Hyundai WRT

[Jewy46]

With Meeke you get both though. Experienced wild car.

Very true but you also get a 5 time WRC winner. Not many others available that can say that

[mknight]

Safe to say that my bet of everyone staying put looks to be coming true.

Solberg already got kicked, in case you missed it.

The very least that will happen is that Hyundai gets someone to share the car with Sordo. Cause you really don't want Sordo in Sweden, Estonia or Finland
Apart from those listed there is also Suninen, but he has quite uneven season.

I can't see Hyundai hiring Meeke if they want a reliable points scorer. He got kicked by Toyota specifically for beeing so unreliable it lost them the title.

[Tauri_J]

Solberg already got kicked, in case you missed it.

The very least that will happen is that Hyundai gets someone to share the car with Sordo. Cause you really don't want Sordo in Sweden, Estonia or Finland
Apart from those listed there is also Suninen, but he has quite uneven season.

I can't see Hyundai hiring Meeke if they want a reliable points scorer. He got kicked by Toyota specifically for beeing so unreliable it lost them the title.

Solberg is irrelevant

With all these silly season shenanigans, I wouldnt be surprised If every fulltime top driver will stay put. ( Rovanpera, Tänak, Neuville, Evans, Breen)

[Danny0405]

Meeke makes absolutely no sense for me; he has been dropped at the same time than Mikkelsen from the main class and has made almost no rallye since then (even if he developed the Skoda); and his last year and half (don’t forget his last half-season with Citroen), he was no reliable but not anymore able of winning also.

Paddon, well, his return was better than what we could have expected but he has made very few outings in Europe since he was dropped and even before Mikkelsen and Meeke. Too much risky according to me to a regular part-time driver at this step of his return; being the Rally2 official driver would already be a good step ... and why not one or two outings as 3rd driver in some rallies Sordo or Mikkelsen are not really efficient in or don’t know (Safari? Finland?) a bit like Breen in 2019.

So in credible experienced solutions, it lets only Mikkelsen and Suninen (don’t see the point of hiring Loubet for firing Solberg); Suninen’s season is so-so and not sure he can bring much more than Solberg (and question mark about what Hyundai will do with Suninen if he is not retained as Rally1 driver whereas Paddon will make his comeback in Rally2).

And maybe Breen if M-Sport frees him for nothing which is a very realistic possibility also. Could sound risky to take him back considering his season but anyway, all the solutions we’re evoking are risky with other drivers not knowing Rally1 cars. The only safe option would be to steal Lappi from Toyota but if Lappi has part-Time offers from both Toyota and Hyundai, I don’t see the point for him to take Hyundai’s offer.

[Toyoda]

Meeke makes absolutely no sense for me; he has been dropped at the same time than Mikkelsen from the main class and has made almost no rallye since then (even if he developed the Skoda); and his last year and half (don’t forget his last half-season with Citroen), he was no reliable but not anymore able of winning also.

Paddon, well, his return was better than what we could have expected but he has made very few outings in Europe since he was dropped and even before Mikkelsen and Meeke. Too much risky according to me to a regular part-time driver at this step of his return; being the Rally2 official driver would already be a good step ... and why not one or two outings as 3rd driver in some rallies Sordo or Mikkelsen are not really efficient in or don’t know (Safari? Finland?) a bit like Breen in 2019.

So in credible experienced solutions, it lets only Mikkelsen and Suninen (don’t see the point of hiring Loubet for firing Solberg); Suninen’s season is so-so and not sure he can bring much more than Solberg (and question mark about what Hyundai will do with Suninen if he is not retained as Rally1 driver whereas Paddon will make his comeback in Rally2).

And maybe Breen if M-Sport frees him for nothing which is a very realistic possibility also. Could sound risky to take him back considering his season but anyway, all the solutions we’re evoking are risky with other drivers not knowing Rally1 cars. The only safe option would be to steal Lappi from Toyota but if Lappi has part-Time offers from both Toyota and Hyundai, I don’t see the point for him to take Hyundai’s offer.

Agree with all that.
Lappi would go for the money presumably, especially with a part-time contract.
Makes you wonder if a Neuville/Evans combo would work driving style and relationship-wise with Ott back in Toyota but it increasingly sounds like Ott will be staying put when you hear that dirtfish interview about car development just before the rally. Malcom sounds like he wants a big name back in the Puma also, Evans back to Ford? Breen to Hyundai? Ott to Toyota, that would be a massive mixup.

[Danny0405]

Agree with all that.
Lappi would go for the money presumably, especially with a part-time contract.
Makes you wonder if a Neuville/Evans combo would work driving style and relationship-wise with Ott back in Toyota but it increasingly sounds like Ott will be staying put when you hear that dirtfish interview about car development just before the rally. Malcom sounds like he wants a big name back in the Puma also, Evans back to Ford? Breen to Hyundai? Ott to Toyota, that would be a massive mixup.

Latvala sounds quite doubtful about hiring Tanak in addition to Rovanpera (in last interview in Dirtfish or WRC, he told something as «*is it the best for the team?*») ... as am I because I’m not sure it’s the best way to show confidence to Rovanpera.

And if Toyota does not hire Tanak, I don’t see the point of letting Evans leave: yes, his season is not good but in the end, I don’t see which driver could do better on full time season except the Big 3 (and Ogier for sure); Lappi has not shown for example he can do really better.
The only case where there could be a discussion in Toyota would be if Toyota brand decides to cut a bit costs with the economic situation (reducing the team to 3 cars) while ordering to keep Katsuta part-time: but even in that case, I would personally choose to keep Evans full-time (and shared 3rd car between Katsuta and Ogier) over a lineup with Lappi and shared 2nd and 3rd cars.

And on the other hand, I don’t see the point for Tanak to go to M-Sport.
So I think the market is quite blocked and that the changes will be only at the margin: biggest move could be about Breen if Hyundai wants to take him back (and M-Sport hiring Lappi or Mikkelsen in exchange) but even not sure.

[EstWRC]

[jonkka]

In the light of today's news, that's very telling picture - especially korean looking at departing duo.

[Eli]

In the light of today's news, that's very telling picture - especially korean looking at departing duo.

What were Ott & Martin looking at? remind me please.

[meh]

About Tänak - I don't remember anymore what was the interview or precise wording, but I remember intent - "we do developments for next year". For me, by the interview he had vision and goals in the future and in Hyundai.

On the other hand - if I need to bet my own money on chances: he stay in Hyundai, go to M-Sport or retires - I would not put big money on any of those, but ratio could be something like 5-2-1.

What is good thing here... I don't bet my money