Quote Originally Posted by AnttiL View Post
Paddon would have done worse in tarmac rallies and Sordo in fast rallies. Also, they have gotten good starting positions in gravel rallies. So it's a good deal for Hyundai, but not a realistic demonstration of how they would perform in a whole season.

Also, Mikkelsen has been very unlucky in some events but still scored consistent points.
You say that but could Paddon have done much worse on tarmac events this year? Mikkelsen has been the slowest or close to the slowest WRC driver on tarmac this season.

I'd still back Mikkelsen across a whole season over Sordo and Paddon, but the fact it's up for debate is the reason Hyundai are going to lose another manufacturers championship battle. Hyundai (and Mikkelsen) expected him to be up with Neuville as the two strong drivers to pin title hopes on. He's 106 pts behind...

@Mknight. I'm comparing Mikkelsen to his team mate in the same car. Hyundai had a rally winning car in terms of pace in Turkey, yet Mikkelsen ended the opening day behind Neuville who opened the road, and ran 4 cars ahead of Andreas. So yes, that's not exactly something to write home about. It's good in relation to the rest of the his season but not for a driver who wants to be world champion.

I'm not gauging Mikkelsen on the likes of Evans/ ostberg etc who most know aren't going to do anything. Many on here claimed Andreas was a future champion and Makinen was an idiot for overlooking him for Jari, and Andreas himself talked about aiming for the title at Hyundai.

If you want to compare him with the likes of Evans, a young Suninen, Breen etc then yeah he's doing ok and not having a bad season. But he has more expectations on him and rightly so. And in relation to that he's had a poor season. He said himself before poor results in Finland, Germany and GB, that he'd had "a nightmare season". I wonder what he thinks now...

If he doesn't step up his game Hyundai won't be able to justify giving him a full season when Sordo or Paddon sit out half a season again.