WRC Season ArchiveRally 

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Hyundai is in the Ideal Situation I think they haven't signed up anyone, and with a first international championship on the line they will probably throw all of Korea at him to get him.

I suspect which ever team gets him (Hyundai or Toyota) the other will get the other Two drivers.

Citroën are locked up and with the bad history with Ogier I doubt he would even consider it.
 
If Ogier does decide to continue, He said that he didn't intend to stay forever in rallying/motorsport.

A great article by David Evans about this subject :
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126937/what-next-for-wrc-and-ogier-after-vw-pullout

If I would be a manufacturer, I would also take a good look at all the engineers that worked for vw in the wrc team. They truely made an astonishing job on the polo r wrc.
I'm also wondering where RedBull sponsorship money is going to go now, if anywhere.
 
Accro2008
If Ogier does decide to continue, He said that he didn't intend to stay forever in rallying/motorsport.

A great article by David Evans about this subject :
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126937/what-next-for-wrc-and-ogier-after-vw-pullout

If I would be a manufacturer, I would also take a good look at all the engineers that worked for vw in the wrc team. They truely made an astonishing job on the polo.
I'm also wondering where RedBull sponsorship money is going to go now, if anywhere.
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Well it went from Citroen to VW so probably Hyundai or Citroen if it does.

If Ogier does leave, even though the quality will be less the competition should be close.
 
mustafur
Hyundai is in the Ideal Situation I think they haven't signed up anyone
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They've already signed up Paddon, Sordo and Neuville.

The problem everyone has is that there isn't much time to build new cars. Citroën are running two, with Breen and Lefebvre sharing until a third car is finished. Toyota will enter a third car, but only from Portugal onwards (which is probably when Citroën will have their third car ready).
 
JC_Dude
Seb Ogier is about to get a damn good raise.
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From whom? He's already one of the highest-paid drivers out there, and it's unlikely that any of the other teams could afford him at his current rate, much less give him a pay rise.
 
prisonermonkeys
From whom? He's already one of the highest-paid drivers out there, and it's unlikely that any of the other teams could afford him at his current rate, much less give him a pay rise.
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Probably Reffering to the VW payout he will receive from them not being able to complete the contract.
 
mustafur
Probably Reffering to the VW payout he will receive from them not being able to complete the contract.
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I'm willing to bet that the team has known about this move as a possibility. They were only signed on a one year deal, because that's all that Volkswagen were willing to commit to.

The only alternative would be to do what Citroën did in 2005, and have someone else run the cars until they were ready to come back. But that's unlikely, given that Volkswagen have kept a pretty firm hold on the reins - the Polo R WRC was never made available to customer teams.
 
prisonermonkeys
The only alternative would be to do what Citroën did in 2005, and have someone else run the cars until they were ready to come back. But that's unlikely, given that Volkswagen have kept a pretty firm hold on the reins - the Polo R WRC was never made available to customer teams.
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I know it's nitpicking but it was 2006 Kronos Racing won the world championship.

I think any customer near depends on Nasser Al-Attiyah/Qatar WRT and possibly Red Bull. You have to feel sorry for Ogier and Mikkelsen, this announcement would've been a lot more convenient if it was made before Hyundai and Citroen announced their line-ups.
 
GOTMAXPOWER
You have to feel sorry for Ogier and Mikkelsen, this announcement would've been a lot more convenient if it was made before Hyundai and Citroen announced their line-ups.
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And Latvala. And Latvala Brothers Smash Repairs.

In all seriousness, this might actually explain a lot. I doubt that the Volkswagen board came to this decision overnight; they would have given everyone involved fair warning. It's obvious that they didn't want want to say anything until after they had won the manufacturers' title, but that just means that everything gets shut down in two weeks.

Remember a few weeks ago, when an announcement about Toyota's driver line-up was expected at the Paris Motor Show, but never happened? The sources involved - both from Autosport and out of Finland - were apparently impeccable, so when nothing eventuated, it was utterly bizarre. All Tommi Mäkinen showed off was an interim build of the Yaris WRC and a corporate tie-up with Microsoft. When Hänninen was confirmed, he was the only one confirmed at a time when Esapekka Lappi was widely expected to be announced alongside him - and it wasn't at any event like the Paris Motor Show. It just ... happened.

But what if Mäkinen knew? What if he knew that Volkswagen were pulling out? He'd have a chance at getting a quality driver and a major coup for the team. Any plans to run Hänninen and Lappi would have to be put on the backburner for the time being so that Mäkinen could secure Ogier, Latvala or Mikkelsen.
 
prisonermonkeys
Remember a few weeks ago, when an announcement about Toyota's driver line-up was expected at the Paris Motor Show, but never happened? The sources involved - both from Autosport and out of Finland - were apparently impeccable, so when nothing eventuated, it was utterly bizarre. All Tommi Mäkinen showed off was an interim build of the Yaris WRC and a corporate tie-up with Microsoft. When Hänninen was confirmed, he was the only one confirmed at a time when Esapekka Lappi was widely expected to be announced alongside him - and it wasn't at any event like the Paris Motor Show. It just ... happened.

But what if Mäkinen knew? What if he knew that Volkswagen were pulling out? He'd have a chance at getting a quality driver and a major coup for the team. Any plans to run Hänninen and Lappi would have to be put on the backburner for the time being so that Mäkinen could secure Ogier, Latvala or Mikkelsen.
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Thinking about it, this actually makes sense. The comments Mäkinen made to MTV3 about the rumours before Paris were that they cannot say anything because the current contracts of the drivers prevent any announcements as of yet.

Back then I thought that it was just a quick response to the rumours because they had decided to cancel the announcement due to the leak, but now with Volkswagen drivers without a free seat it sounds like he was referring to this, as there's a clear reason why they couldn't announce Ogier, for example, back then.
 
Legro
Thinking about it, this actually makes sense.
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Malcolm Wilson posted a Tweet that M-Sport hoped to be running six Fiestas by the middle of the year. I was trying to place them before the Volkswagen announcement, and the best that I could figure out was two run by M-Sport, two run by DMACK and two run under separate independent banners. But M-Sport - like all of the manufacturers - can run a maximum of three cars, and going by one of David Evans' stories, Ogier was apparently very interested in driving for M-Sport when his relationship with Citroën fell apart. If any team can turn new chassis around en masse, it's M-Sport; their entire business model is built on it.

So I wonder if we'll see Ogier go to M-Sport, with Tänak returning to the team. Latvala used to drive for them, so he could also go there, and maybe farm Camilli out to DMACK for a year, possibly alongside Elfyn Evans. Østberg could go back to Adapta in the sixth Fiesta.
 
Yves Matton is willing to give Ogier a drive in 2017, but not at the expense of any of the four drivers he has already signed. He says that he will listen to Latvala and Mikkelsen if they call, but "they're not French and they're not World Champions", so he won't make any promises (read: they won't drive for Citroën).
 
prisonermonkeys
Hmmm, it's not playing for me. What did he say?
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Context : Interview before the Rally GB at the Rallyforum.
Colin Clark first ask to Malcolm Wilson and Ogier "How close were you to signing him ?"
Malcolm Wilson laughs followed by a *awkward* silence and Ogier answers "It was close".
And then Ogier says "I admire Malcolm and one of my regrets is not having worked with him, but who knows what the future holds, never say never."

This video doesn't mean anything for next year but damn I dream to see Ogier at M-Sport don't know why. :D
Hope my translation was clear enough, my english isn't really the best.
 
prisonermonkeys
So I wonder if we'll see Ogier go to M-Sport, with Tänak returning to the team. Latvala used to drive for them, so he could also go there, and maybe farm Camilli out to DMACK for a year, possibly alongside Elfyn Evans. Østberg could go back to Adapta in the sixth Fiesta.
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From the rumours I've seen so far it looks as though Latvala will be at Toyota next year, Ogier could be going to DMACK/M-Sport whether that is the current team or a merged team for 2017. At the moment I can't see any works teams where Mikkelsen could end up with a full season program.
 
Volkswagens exist shows WRC:s biggest flaw: no team stays committed for long, unlike F1 where Ferrari have stayed since 1950, Mclaren since 1963 and Williams since 1977. In WRC the team that stayed the longest was Ford wich started in 1978 and quit in 2012. What happens next? Will it lead to a chain reaction so we are back with pretty much only 1 manufacturer again? I hope the new 2017 regulations will lead to more exposure to WRC and hope VW regret their decision.
 
Simmpa
Volkswagens exist shows WRC:s biggest flaw: no team stays committed for long
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The withdrawal has more to do with the company's public image in the wake of the emissions scandal. As David Evans said, "the company can't have drivers spraying the Volkswagen logo with champagne".
 
Simmpa
Volkswagens exist shows WRC:s biggest flaw: no team stays committed for long, unlike F1 where Ferrari have stayed since 1950, Mclaren since 1963 and Williams since 1977. In WRC the team that stayed the longest was Ford wich started in 1978 and quit in 2012. What happens next? Will it lead to a chain reaction so we are back with pretty much only 1 manufacturer again? I hope the new 2017 regulations will lead to more exposure to WRC and hope VW regret their decision.
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Works teams pulling out after a few years is not a huge problem, the real issue is that aside from M-Sport no manufactures are interested in selling their cars to customers, it creates the same problems as we're seeing in WEC now.

btw I still think its crazy that given the strength of the programs they've had (works and otherwise) Ford haven't won a WDC since 1979!
 
prisonermonkeys
The withdrawal has more to do with the company's public image in the wake of the emissions scandal. As David Evans said, "the company can't have drivers spraying the Volkswagen logo with champagne".
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I don´t get the argument, they think It´s better to go underground and not be seen will sell more cars? They should let themself be controlled by what the massmedia thinks? I think this emission scandal is a bunch of B.S. Whatever atleast some good news for WRC the running order rules have been scrapped and gone back to how it was in 2014

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126982/controversial-wrc-running-order-rules-changed

Finally we can see a fair battle on gravel and not like how it is currently where the one at the top is chanceless against someone at the bottom. Even without Volkswagen I have hard time imagine Ogier loosing the championship next year. I hope Ogier joins any team than Citroen as I do not wanna see another Sebastien with Citroën.
 
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Simmpa
I don´t get the argument, they think It´s better to go underground and not be seen will sell more cars? They should let themself be controlled by what the massmedia thinks?
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They need to be seen as being humble.
 
Accro2008
I'm also wondering where RedBull sponsorship money is going to go now, if anywhere.
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Apparently there are no plans to transfer the sponsorship to another team, at least in the short term - but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up sticking with one driver (read: Ogier). They might expand to sponsor a second car depending on who is driving it (read: Tänak, not Camilli).
 
prisonermonkeys
They need to be seen as being humble.
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Sure let´s be humble, making alot of the people who work for the team as engineers and mechanics unemployed. And make it harder for other inexperienced drivers to get a seat in 2017 as the VW drivers will take them.
 
Simmpa
Sure let´s be humble, making alot of the people who work for the team as engineers and mechanics unemployed.
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Volkswagen have already announced that everyone working for Volkswagen Motorsport will have a job within the wider Volkswagen organisation. If they wanted to stay in rallying, then I imagine that Volkswagen would offer a severance package.
 
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