Silly Season 2019

[er88]

Ogier said his next contract will be his last. But does he mean 'contract', which could mean one, two or even three years; or does he mean 'season'?

He meant contract. He clarifies that on the WRC Turkey preview show, and says that he didn't mean it would be his last season.

A two or three year deal at Citroen would be my guess.

[Allez Andruet]

Whichever scenario of teams and drivers will come into fruition, it seems like we'll anyway end up having three strong teams and one not-so-strong. And the weak one could be either M-Sport, Citroen or even Hyundai. Toyota it won't be, thanks to the Superman.

If Ogier leaves M-Sport, they will clearly be the fourth best team. No offence, but any squad lead by Suninen and/or Evans is not particularly strong for a title bid (in 2019 that is). And if Neuville decides to jump ship (presumably to Citroen), that would leave Hyundai with no credible championship contender(s) on hand. Citroen we all know, and I think even in case of Lappi as their #1, they're unable to match the others. Atleast on paper.

[AnttiL]

We could even end up in a situation with two strong teams and two less strong teams, if two of Ogier, Neuville and Tänak are in the same team.

[Allez Andruet]

We could even end up in a situation with two strong teams and two less strong teams, if two of Ogier, Neuville and Tänak are in the same team.

Fair point. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be that way.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I'm getting a feeling Ogier to Citroen is a genuine possibility. They really need a proper no.1 and must therefore be putting together a serious financial package. If Ogier wasnt interested I think we'd know by now and discussions would be over...

[AnttiL]

Carlo Canova's thoughts on silly season, I think it's machine translated from Italian http://www.racerviews.com/2018/09/11...und-seb-ogier/

Apparently Lappi is driving Toyota on a quite low salary

[EstWRC]

"At the same time it seems that Ott Tanak has become the owner of the management of the will of Ogier to move, he is the Estonian who is so close to Seb and hopes to be able to have him again as a team mate, from which he can continue to learn, but above all to have a very high salary on which to base his revaluation at the end of the year. It should be noted that Ott has a contract at the end of 2019."


what A BULLSHIT!

[mknight]

Carlo Canova's thoughts on silly season, I think it's machine translated from Italian http://www.racerviews.com/2018/09/11...und-seb-ogier/

Apparently Lappi is driving Toyota on a quite low salary

I get that Lappi started with low salary in 2017, but after the rally win in Finland one would think he got a bit more money in 2018. Still not suprising if he doesn't have that much.

Other points he has there:
- Paddon supposedly on the way out of Hyundai (looks unlikely to me)
- Evans out after this year (didn't he sign 2 year deal at end of 2017?, prbly not since noboy mentions he has contract for next year)

Btw. with people sending 2-3 drivers "out" (Evans, JML etc.), who is supposed to actually drive the cars... there are still 11-12 factory seats to fill.

[AnttiL]

- Evans out after this year (didn't he sign 2 year deal at end of 2017?, prbly not since noboy mentions he has contract for next year)

I'm pretty sure only Mikkelsen and Tänak had deals for 2019. It's not looking good for Evans indeed.

[Allez Andruet]

"At the same time it seems that Ott Tanak has become the owner of the management of the will of Ogier to move, he is the Estonian who is so close to Seb and hopes to be able to have him again as a team mate, from which he can continue to learn, but above all to have a very high salary on which to base his revaluation at the end of the year. It should be noted that Ott has a contract at the end of 2019."


what A BULLSHIT!

Not buying the story as such either, but it could be true that the minimum level of Tänak's annual base salary is based on some formula which includes the base salaries of other TGR drivers. Ofcourse that's just a guess, but it wouldn't be a surprise.