It's been a couple of sleeps since my last blog post and with some free hours available for idle musing, I thought it time to stare at the tea-leaves once more.
With WRC Round #10 - the Tour de Corse - just a few days in the future, Ogier has three wins in the bag, Meeke has two, while Paddon, Neuville, and Latvala have one win apiece. I write Round #10 because of the cancelled China round (a total farce that I don't intend to waste any more heartbeats commenting further on).
Rallye Deutschland was notable for being Ogier's return to his winning ways. And for being conspicuously free of his moaning about start order. (Funny that...)
It was also notable for Neuville's continued good form. The Belgian climbed back from a somewhat tentative start to the season to a position where he looks once more the driver capable of delivering on his much-anticipated promise. Neck and neck with his Hyundai teammate Hayden Paddon for the third spot of the WRC Drivers' Championship, he's done his chances for a good few years of highly-paid employment no harm at all.
So what's this we're hearing about Thierry wanting just a single year signing, rather than a two or three year option? Makes no sense, right? Given the original publishing source quoted for this new snippet of Silly Season shenanigans, Motorsport Monday, we could perhaps be forgiven for questioning whether they possess the relevant cred for us to seriously consider the possibility of a one-year contract clause for Neuville.
But more curious things have occurred in the WRC before, so maybe a quick look at the whys and wherefores is in order. It's generally expected that soon Neuville and Matton will announce Thierry's role for 2017 as Citroen's #2 driver. If that doesn't happen, I swear I'll fall over in a dead faint. We shall see...
To begin with, it seems at first glance that this one-year business runs counter to the usual practice, which from a driver viewpoint usually involves getting some consistent income for as many seasons as practically possible in a top-tier team. In the real world, three years would seem to be the maximum number of seasons that a driver's management would consider prudent; two years being a more comfortable position given the ups and downs of the WRC and its inhabitants.
And while the contract length is often a closely guarded secret nowadays, there have been enough hints dropped around the service park to determine that the teams themselves favour multi-year deals. Which is why my initial reaction to the Motorsport Monday item was that it seemed odd. But having mulled it over, I think there's a possibility that the Neuville clause might actually fit developments.
And it's down to what appears to be happening in the VW camp. Or rather, what's not happening. Lead driver Ogier allegedly has a roll-over clause in his contract which in effect will extend his employment with the Wolfsburg Boys to the end of 2018, and Mikkelsen appears to have a similar deal. Neither driver will answer direct questions as to their prospects for '18 though both have referenced "years" when their contract announcements were made.
But Jari-Matti has not had anything to say recently regarding his contract extension and there's a distinct possibility that 2017 may be the Finn's last season with VW.
If this is so, and to be fair, that's a pretty big "if", then a young Belgian with a desire to enhance his World Championship prospects in what has been for the past three years the most-winning team in the WRC, might see that as an opportunity worth taking. And risking a shorter contract [with Citroen] in 2017 to facilitate it.
Of course, there's a downside to that strategy - he would be reducing his ability to negotiate terms as it would be obvious that he had gambled on getting the vacant VW seat, his options elsewhere limited as a result by the multi-year willingness of his competitors' contract positions. And it's also possible that Jari-Matti could close the door with a blinder of a season in 2017, which would have Thierry in a rather begging situation come that year's silly season.
But it could well be the gamble that's worth taking for the Belgian - he's not short of self-belief. And to be in the same team as his good mate Andreas Mikkelsen would be an added attraction.
However, all this is speculation. There may be no one-year contract clause at all. And J-ML could announce tomorrow that he's in receipt of a contract until 2018 or later which is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.
In any case, we should know before Cataluña either way.
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