Quote Originally Posted by macebig View Post
Meeke, Sordo have zero upside. Loeb isn't available for RMC. Lappi was only looking for a Toyota return.Paddon has to move out of NZ to get any chance of a regular program (and he is working with local Hyundai anyway...) And Suninen decided to shoot himself on the foot, when he had clear orders to bring the cars home and wrecked them.
Loeb, Meeke and Sordo would do a much better job than Greensmith, that's the point. All three bring a lot of interest and publicity too, and on specific rallies could still challenge for some podiums and win stages to show the pace of the car. That's despite the fact they are all over the hill and past their best. If Solberg gets a full seat at Hyundai, Msport (if they didn't want to rinse money out of Greensmith) could just rotate all 3 of those drivers in a car for a season, alongside Breen and Fourmaux with full seasons.
Suninen shot himself in the foot with crashes yes, but clearly he felt no backing or confidence from the team, had little testing, and was driving under huge pressure and yet still I remember that 1st Monte stage more than anything Greensmith has done this year. He crashed, but he was equally criticised when off the pace too.
Then you have Mikkelsen, clearly available, would drive for barely anything to get back into a Rally1 car, and is such a better option for decent results/pace than anything Greensmith has ever shown. Paddon seems to be a what might have been unfortunately....