M-Sport Ford World Rally Teams

[mknight]

I agree that Breen has been a bit disappointing on other WRC drives than in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. And in three last years, he hasn't had many starts elsewhere. Wales and Croatia were not really impressive.

If you look at Breen's stage win list, his only stage wins in Germany are from exceptionally fast stages and same thing for one Australia and one Portugal stage win. He only has two stage wins from technical gravel stages, one in Portugal and one in Turkey. His best result in a technical gravel rally is 5th in Portugal 2017 and best tarmac result 5th (many rallies)

He was 4th in GB 2018 which I'd rank as his best non-fast loose rally result.

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I don't say Breen would be a championship contender.
I see him as "best of the rest", capable of winning rallies and finishing high(ish) in other rounds.
If you combine him with Fourmaux who will be getting quicker on Tarmac, his prefered surface, I think that is the best 2 car line-up in middle long term they can go for.

Given what he has done so far I don't see him as best of the rest.

More precisely I don't see how you can say that he is able to finish high on anything other than non-fast loose rallies, as AntiiL listed there is nothing that confirms it and plenty of opposite results.

The closest comparison to Breen right now might be Østberg in 2018. Great result on his favourite type of rally in Finland (2nd). Based on that he got more chances on other rallies that year (and didn't impress much).
So Breen should get more chances on other types of rallies, at Hyundai he had 2 so far. GB was crash out of 6th as last Hyundai. Croatia was "crash" into kerb (puncture) out of 5th as last Hyundai/Toyota (ahead of Fourmaux on first event and Greensmith + Katsuta).
Now he gets another chance in Ypres.

So back to initial conclusion, I don't see why MSport should sign him unless he does well in Ypres. (or other rally rest of the year that isn't Finland).

[mknight]

Young Solberg who has had less obvious success will be taking his Hyundai seat on his name alone..

Off topic here but I would say there is now real pressure on Solberg before Ypres (completely contrary to what Adamo says).

Already in January I was arguing that Solberg needs to develop into delivering reliable rally results (or at least finishing rallies without issues), like Rovanpera did in 2019, and not just good times on single stages. Sadly it has been quite the opposite, two retirements after first 2 stages in last two rallies, Hard to learn anything from that. Yes you can learn rallies and gain experience in WRC just like in Rally2, but it gets notably more expensive and "visible" to the public when you make mistakes then.

Until now an argument could be made that the current i20 R5 is not great and he has to push more to get times (doesn't explain Safari), but now with new car that should not be the case any more. So he definitely needs to show he can drive to the finish at a decent position in Ypres and not just win a few stages and crash.

Based on his results this year so far I don't see that Adamo would consider him as a replacement for Breen even on those few fast rallies next year, provided Breen wants to stay. Maybe more like a repeat of this year (Solberg starting a few rallies in 4th car), but there are a few rallies yet to run, so things might change.

[Gustav Andel]

Hey, guys! I am mostly just a reader on this forum, but I would also like to add a post.

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...eturn/6637785/

I think there is one obvious choice for M-Sport - Sébastien Loeb. He'd still want to ride in the WRC. Even if he's just testing the car, that's a huge asset to the team. And, of course, he could start in a few select contests. He'd also be an ideal mentor for Adrien Fourmaux.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Teemu Suninen, who is backed by wealthy rally driver investor Timo Jouhki, only has a WRC1 part-programme this year.

Is this because his manager is losing faith in him, or because he doesnt think the Fiesta WRC is currently super-competitive... or because he's holding back to fund Suninen for a full season in the new 2022 Puma ?

[AnttiL]

Teemu Suninen, who is backed by wealthy rally driver investor Timo Jouhki, only has a WRC1 part-programme this year.

Is this because his manager is losing faith in him, or because he doesnt think the Fiesta WRC is currently super-competitive... or because he's holding back to fund Suninen for a full season in the new 2022 Puma ?

Again you're quoting Absolute Rally without citing them.

I believe this is down to M-Sport having to enter two cars in every rally, and supporting financially these entries, but at the same time having three drivers paying for those drives.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I believe this is down to M-Sport having to enter two cars in every rally, and supporting financially these entries, but at the same time having three drivers paying for those drives.

The question was about Jouhki's current & future support of Suninen.

[Sulland]

I will be surprized if MSport keeps Suninen in a role for 2022.
He has been struggeling to get the maximum out of the Fiestas he has driven.

[mknight]

If they really believe in Fourmaux and Suninen brings a lot of money it's possible. So it's back to Eddie's question about Jouhki commitment.

Thing is, even if Fourmaux is another Ogier he certainly won't be fighting for title next year, most likely not even for rally wins and probably not even for podiums....and in 2-3 years when he might Puma likely already starts falling behind.

Btw. the comparison of Suninen and Fourmaux this year is somewhat interesting. Suninen has terrible results in WRC and decent in WRC2. Fourmaux decent in WRC and poor in WRC2 (with the exception of Monte).

[Fast Eddie WRC]

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...2-wrc/6642983/

[macebig]

Fourmaux is a lock. One car is either for Breen or Mikkelsen. 3rd car split between Sunninen and Greensmith. Probably the most realistic scenario.