[WRC] News & rumours (part IV) 2016

[Simmi]

Malcolm throws his hat into the ring! - https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126966

[EstWRC]

I guess Evans will be left without a seat again, his dmack car going for third car in m-sport

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Malcolm throws his hat into the ring! - https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126966

Sounds promising ! Its what we all want and what the WRC needs.

[macebig]

Mr Bill Ford,just sign a $5 mil check payed to M-Sport.Taking back No1 on a Ford after 23 years is a huge deal...

[Simmi]

Certainly Malcolm sounding far more positive publicly than Matton. He's got the cars and the desire. It's just going to come down to whether he has the money. Unless Ogier is willing to perhaps take a one-year deal and keep cashing that VW money.

[leighton323]

Quick Malcolm, get Ogier in an M-Sport 2017 test car.

He will be the first person to test two 2017 cars and a definite gauge of the performance M-Sport's 2017 challenger. Ogier will be able to give a direct comparison compared to the VW which undoubtly would have been close to the bencemark. (Nobody doubts VW's ability to build a rally car).


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[macebig]

No way VW allows any of its drivers to test a different machinery until after Rally Australia (and maybe later)

[smsgrafica]

With Ogier possibly going to Ford and Latvala to Toyota, we would have a dream setup for the Championship, with 4 drivers capable of winning consistently on every surface:

1.) Ogier/Ford
2.) Meeke/Citroen
3.) Neuville/Hyundai
4.) Latvala/Toyota

This would make a very interesting battle, with Paddon/Hyundai, Sordo/Hyundai and Tanak/Ford as an added bonus.

I won't count Mikkelsen, because his chances to get a race-winning seat are IMHO very slim as of today.

Yes, Toyota seems to be uncompetitive at the moment, but the other 3 cars should be on level terms, so it will make for a great fight!

On the other hand, if Ogier goes back to Citroen, it would leave Ford a bit exposed and I would suggest Wilson to get Mikkelsen, because he's proven he can be very quick on every surface, too.

So, all in all, I'd prefer an Ogier/Citroen and Mikkelsen/Ford combination. It would spice things up even more...

[smsgrafica]

No way VW allows any of its drivers to test a different machinery until after Rally Australia (and maybe later)

It would be absurd from VW to disallow them the tests. It's their fault they're without a drive for 2017 and they don't have anything to lose if they test another car, since they won't be competing anytime soon.

[smsgrafica]

He will be the first person to test two 2017 cars and a definite gauge of the performance M-Sport's 2017 challenger.

Potentially he could test 4 out of 5: VW, Citroen, Ford and Toyota (there doesn't seem to be any mutual interest between Ogier & Hyundai), although I'm not sure Matton would let him drive one of his cars before signing the contract.