Hyundai WRT

[seb_sh]

Also remember that Kalle was a WRC2(Pro) champion when coming to Toyota in 2020. Toyota took a little bit of a chance letting him drive the third car on every round, putting maybe some pressure on him.

I think that's actually where you will find the big difference in their respective career paths. For Rovanpera it made sense to make the step at the time. For Solberg it was a bit more complicated.

They both drove in Latvia as youngsters because they didn't have a licence. And as they began to beat people in Latvia started to add other championships. Rovanpera drove Latvia, Finland and Italy in 2017, Solberg did Latvia and America in 2019. They both did well at this stage, winning rallies and showing great speed and talent. Next step was WRC2 in 2018 for Rovanpera where he was fast but had some crashes, but he won a couple rallies, while Solberg was at a similar stage in 2020 racing in ERC and WRC2. Now this is perhaps the first point where Solberg lost a bit of momentum and experience because 2020 for him was to get used to being at the front in Rally2/R5 cars and it didn't help that it was a short year. The next stage for Rovanpera was full focus on WRC2 in 2019 where he won almost everything as we know, so far they had similar career steps and for Solberg this should have been 2021. But instead Adamo put him in the car on Arctic rally instead of the WRC2 as was the plan. After that he kept bouncing between the WRC2 and the WRC. Hyundai's Rally2 car was not great at the time so that plus constant switching probably confused him. Now at this point Rovanpera is a WRC2 winner having dominated the championship so Toyota decides to secure the future and put him in the car full time, the short 2020 wasn't good for him either but he had the WRC2 win behind him and he was steadily improving. Solberg got a partial season in a disorganised Hyundai team after a very confusing 2021.

I think Solberg is very talented but there was a big mistake made in his development especially when you put him side by side with Rovanpera's plan. I don't know who made the decisions of what to do, was it Adamo, the Koreans, his dad, Neuville, the Pope... In 2020 Oliver showed speed and 2021 should have been a year to focus on the WRC2 championship with some pressure and with fighting at the top but not so much to be in the main team, giving interviews etc. Most of the greats had that kind of season behind them when they went into the WRC and started to perform. That's Solberg's missing year.

[AnttiL]

I think that's actually where you will find the big difference in their respective career paths. For Rovanpera it made sense to make the step at the time. For Solberg it was a bit more complicated.

Yes but my point was that this wasn't Toyota's achievement, more about Jouhki and other people behind Rovanperä. The best thing Toyota did was not buying Rovanperä out of his Skoda contract already a year before.

[seb_sh]

Yes but my point was that this wasn't Toyota's achievement, more about Jouhki and other people behind Rovanperä. The best thing Toyota did was not buying Rovanperä out of his Skoda contract already a year before.

Agreed, they took him not too soon but also not too late, he might have gone to MSport for example.

I wasn't disagreeing just expanding :P

[WRCStan]

In hineysight too-sooners, who should have been in the half-car?

[AnttiL]

In hineysight too-sooners, who should have been in the half-car?

Suninen. With all tarmac rallies, Sardinia and Safari for Sordo. Suninen should have done Sweden, Portugal, Estonia, Finland, Greece and NZ

Or they should have negotiated more with Breen, but I guess all he wanted was a full season.

EDIT: And of course guys like Mikkelsen and Østberg would have likely gotten more solid results than Solberg.

[wyler]

If that's the case, it's more proof that he's the man who set Solberg on this stupid headless course.

What's the point signing a young guy to a 2 year contract, with a promise to drive a Rally1 car in 2022, if you tear his head off every time the pressure YOU apply gets to him, and he makes a mistake? Simply put, Adamo's mind changed like the wind. One minute he's the next big thing (after Arctic), then all of a sudden he's a shit, not worthy of even driving the Rally2 (after Kenya). He's literally the last person on earth I'd entrust a young driver's development to. Compare and contrast with the way Toyota have brought Kalle to the top of the sport.

I don't blame him alone. There's clearly more to it than one man's hasty decision, and the chances to correct the course / heal the relationship have all been missed. But this train wreck was set in motion by Adamo.

i don't know if you say all this 'cause you're internal at hiunday, and know much more than me, 'cause if not it seems to me more you fantasizing it than a depiction of reality...
never heard about what you say. only saw adamo wanting to use solberg in wrc where he know would be useful (and proved ok in arctic), and leave him to wrc2 for the rest. solbergs team were among the (or the one) first to have the new rally 2 and even. before they had plenty of time in working on the r5 car...

[Eli]

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/m...ive-/10386503/

Wait what? Meeke?? Seriously? Really makes me wonder if we'll see Hyundai beyond 2023.

[seb_sh]

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/m...ive-/10386503/

Wait what? Meeke?? Seriously? Really makes me wonder if we'll see Hyundai beyond 2023.

Neuville, Mikkelsen, Sordo/Meeke as a quartet based on good relations between them with Tanak sitting out or doing a part season somewhere else? Stranger things have happened.

[meh]

Tänak today in interview to estonian media says clearly that he is driving in Hyundai next year:
https://sport.delfi.ee/artikkel/1200...hooajal-soidab

Interview itself is painful to watch due to "journalist".


edit for the comments: I just pointed out that he said it clearly, it does not mean that it's clearly the truth

[seb_sh]

Tänak today in interview to estonian media says clearly that he is driving in Hyundai next year:
https://sport.delfi.ee/artikkel/1200...hooajal-soidab

Interview itself is painful to watch due to "journalist".

Then no Mikkelsen haha