Give him a break. As a rallyfan you should know this would happen. No one just didn´t want to express that publicly. Tidemand has had way too little competiton in a WRC17 car to be competitive.
I can only presume new WRCars are a lot more difficult to adapt to than old ones were. Didn’t he drive a Fiesta here a few years ago and do quite a respectable job?
Rossel will be one of the drivers, and probably one or two Italians.
From this article, it's also clear that if the WRC goes to Roma, there will be some support coming from the promoter also:...
Tarmac rallies are part of the WRC challenge for drivers.
And having the Championship in a major European capital city will bring great publicity to the sport there.
It is big political fight in Italy if it will be in Sardegna or Rome. Like usually...
Rally2 (ex-R5) News