Toyota announces WRC plans

[COD]

a finish nobody telling lies... why i am not surprised ?

The fact that latvala and Makinen share the same manager made the difference, everything else is just fuel for the autists.

I would not call Lehtinen a nobody by any means.

But I have to agree with your second statement

[Allez Andruet]

I was just hearing about a Jarmo Lehtinen interview (Sporting Director for Toyota WRC). He confirmed it was Latvala's technical know-how and experience of many different WRC cars that earned him a seat with Toyota, over Mikkelsen.

If anything Latvala is mostly known to constantly struggle with the setup and getting lost in it 2-3 times on same rally. Ref. his comments on how he was changing his setup to reflect Ogier's.

...and where's the conflict?

[dimviii]

. Then on Juho's turn he looked completely lost. He was reported saying finding no trust to the car after Latvala's setups and it took time to get it back more to his liking. Suddenly the car he had been developing and testing for thousands of kilometers was not his anymore. Clearly Juho have had difficulties in adapting to these changes..

I have been working on the differential settings in particular: I didn’t feel that they were the best for me in Mexico, so that is something I really wanted to improve for Argentina, and we have some good solutions now.”

http://toyotagazooracing.com/wrc/rep...5/preview.html

[Fast Eddie WRC]

a finish nobody telling lies... why i am not surprised ?

The fact that latvala and Makinen share the same manager made the difference, everything else is just fuel for the autists.

You cant argue with this idiot who has no facts and just denies everything, even information direct from the team, that proves him wrong.

Re Latvala know-how - everyone including N.O.Troll was criticising the Yaris in testing... then Latvala comes along, tests and tests more, makes some big changes to the (Hanninen) car and suddenly it's capable of winning stages and rallies.

JL: "He is an important developer of our car because he is well aware of all the technology and also very interested in it."

Mikkelsen may have had a better 2016, but Latvala has years of experience with WRC cars, even going back to active-diff cars. Is it a fact that Mikkelsen would've turned the crappy Yaris into a winner just by his driving ?

[N.O.T]

basic simpletons believing everything they read.

No surprises there.

[Allez Andruet]

basic simpletons believing everything they read.

Don't worry, maybe someday you can read as well.

[SubaruNorway]

Mikkelsen may have had a better 2016, but Latvala has years of experience with WRC cars, even going back to active-diff cars. Is it a fact that Mikkelsen would've turned the crappy Yaris into a winner just by his driving ?

Mikkelsen has 3 years in active cars as well.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Mikkelsen has 3 years in active cars as well.

But is he a a dyed-in-the-wool rally car nut like Latvala, someone who lived and breathed rallying and rally cars all his life, who would do it as a hobby if it wasnt his job ?
Or is he just a fast driver who has very often just had a good car to start with ?

Mikkelsen was desperate to continue with the 2017 Polo, saying that this was because it was what he was used to. He didnt want to have to take a lot of time adapting to another (inferior) car.

Toyota let Ogier test their car, wanting him to join them (presumably as the best driver, but also for his knowledge). When he turned them down they then went for Latvala. They didnt even let Mikkelsen test..

[jparker]

So you belive Ogier turned down Toyota's offer? If he remains with Ford next year, I'm going to believe you.

[AMSS]

So you belive Ogier turned down Toyota's offer? If he remains with Ford next year, I'm going to believe you.

Well he says so himself in an interview in latest finnish VM magazine... At the time of his testing the car was not very competitive and he was positively surprised about their speed in the beginnig of the season..