[WRC] News & rumours (part IV) 2016

[EstWRC]

[N.O.T]

What a smart move by Hyundai. Are they convinced that such decisions will make Neuville improve his performances? How can this kind of environment help him?

Neuville will probably be history from he hyundai team after his contract and there is a high probability from the sport all together which is not a bad thing if he continues this kind of performace.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Evans will do 7 rounds with Ford Fiesta WRC http://www.autonews-magazine.com/blog/?p=44240

7 rounds in WRC and 7 in WRC-2 is a pretty good deal for him from M-Sport. He should be happy with that as it keeps him well in the mix for future opportunities.

[AL14]

Neuville will probably be history from he hyundai team after his contract and there is a high probability from the sport all together which is not a bad thing if he continues this kind of performace.

I think instead that despite Neuville will leave Hyundai he is still their driver and they should work on him if they want points. Sordo's points will not be enough.
As for his perfomances, I've criticized Neuville last year but it is very very easy, at that level to destabilize a driver. And feeling your team is no more at your back does not help. Neither you or that team.

[itix]

The Evans cover is top level humor... everyone else apart from some die hard fans can see he does not belong in the peak of the series...

[tommeke_B]

With some good tactics from M-Sport I give Evans the biggest chance to win the WRC2 title. If they let him drive events like Mexico, Argentina, China and Australia with an R5, he's not going to have a lot of competition and can take a lot of points there, with (most likely) almost all others absent in those expensive oversea events.

[focus206]

everyone else apart from some die hard fans can see he does not belong in the peak of the series...

I do not agree. Will he be a champion? No. Does he belong in the series? Yes, still. If he doesn't belong, so does not Tanak, Kubica, Ostberg after 10 years in WRCs and others. I'm glad he got at least a program for next year, I would have given another chance to him and Tanak in the "works" M-Sport Fiestas for this year, but Malcolm musy have had his reasons. I honestly didn't expect much more from them in 2015 in semi-private Fiestas.

PS: I'm not British, not know him personally and not a die-hard fan

[Lundefaret]

With some good tactics from M-Sport I give Evans the biggest chance to win the WRC2 title. If they let him drive events like Mexico, Argentina, China and Australia with an R5, he's not going to have a lot of competition and can take a lot of points there, with (most likely) almost all others absent in those expensive oversea events.

I think actually its the best thing to happen for Evans.
In WRC he can always blame bad results on inexperience and so on, but in WRC2 he is expected to perform.
He will meet some pretty stiff competition in WRC2, and I hope this and the expectations leads him to take every trick up from the hat in a real effort to win everything in WRC2.
A season like the one he is going to have now, is one of the best things that can happen to an up and coming WRC pilot.
Dont forget that Ogier had a season in S2000, and he was on a far higher level than Evans when that happened.
But I can promise You that that was very fruitful for Ogier.

Likewise Meekes testing process in 2016 can be very helpful for him, because he then really can focus on driving and pace notes whit out having the stress of competition hanging over his head.

Alpine skiing is very similar to rallying in several ways. Downhill is the ultimate speed event. Axel Lund Svindal is the Norwegian ace at this. He was so badly injured that he needed to drop the whole 2014 season, and be away for a year. Many "experts" said that it would be impossible for him to return to the top after staying away for so long, and that it would take a long time for him to get back to even closely where he was when he left.
Well? What happened?
He came back this season and started winning World Cup downhills from the first race, and he is in his life form.

[Mk2 RS2000]

Perhaps Hyundai took the Manufacturers view which in Asia means long term goals, loyalty and putting the company first. With Asian teams, should you put your employer first and yourself second then they will do everything possible to assist you achieve your goals. If however you reverse the order of priorities and put yourself in the prime order of importance then it is quickly game over.
From what one has been reading of the speculation around the traps Neuville has been endeavouring to connect with other teams from about mid-way through last season with a view to exercising the out clause in his contract and in that endeavour he has failed. Plus his public bagging of the then current car and the pace of development of the new one did not assist his cause and to me does little to inspire confidence in the man.
Contrast that with Sordo when the news broke that Paddon was to take his place in the #1 team for Australia, Sordo was very quick to come out with a statement that supported the move saying that Paddon had more experience in that event and would be better placed to score points for the manufacturer than he was. That is the measure of the man and his loyalty to the team has been rewarded.
Becoming the Manufactures champion is an important goal for the Korean company who have fast established themselves as one of the biggest vehicle manufacturing companies in the world. It is a goal for all of South Korea, whereas I don’t believe that VW winning last year was a goal for all of Germany.
This year I think that we will see Sordo and Paddon in the #1 team so as to endeavour to win the Manufacturers championship whilst Neuville will be free to chase the Driver’s championship in the #2 team. If he pulls it off, great for all concerned for both he and Hyundai will gain recognition but if he continues to crash and have DNF’s then it is only he who loses.

[Arnold Triyudho Wardono]

The Evans cover is top level humor... everyone else apart from some die hard fans can see he does not belong in the peak of the series...

As expected from British media..