With just WRGB to run and both the WRC drivers' and manufacturers' championships already wrapped up, attention has understandably turned to next season. Since the last post on the driver-go-round, the crystal ball has cleared significantly and a number of the prognostications have become reality. So the known driver lineups are as follows:
FORD
Evans is in
Hirvonen is retiring from WRC
CITROEN
Meeke is in
Kubica is in, privately funded for the full season
Protasov is in, privately funded for part of the season
HYUNDAI
Neuville is in
Sordo is in
VW
Ogier is in
Latvala is in
Mikkelsen is in
That there are still gaps in the known driver allocations is a little surprising. At this point in the season, with just one round left to run, the budgets and driver potential must surely be settled, so one wonders about the lack of announcements about the loose ends. Here's what we don't know but seem highly likely: (Revista Scratch is reporting that Meeke has been confirmed in the Citroen team).
[U] Wilson has said he's talking to more than one driver but that the final choice will be largely influenced by budget. He expects to finalise his team before the end of next week.
CITROEN
Ostberg
Paddon
FORD
Tanak
Ostberg
Paddon
HYUNDAI
Ostberg
Paddon
[U] ]I haven't any idea how the scenario above will resolve itself - there are too many imponderables there now - but one thing seems clear, all three drivers seem assured of a teast a part season in 2015.
Kubica has been expressing a lack of certainty about his WRC future, with some comments in the blogosphere suggesting that he may move to some form of circuit racing. But, he's also been seen as a possible third driver at Citroen. Part of the evidence for that is an interview where he openly expressed disappointment with the tarmac behaviour of the latest iteration of the Fiesta WRC but he's still interested in competing in the WRC.
Although Wilson is on record as saying he'd be interested in talking to Kubica about 2015, he also made it clear there hadn't been any discussions about it so far. To be fair, Matton has also said that they hadn't talked to Robert, so...
Paddon's future in the WRC seems at present to be linked to Hyundai. There are three reasons to assume that - the first is that the Korean marque gave him half a season in 2014 to prove his talent and the team has been consistently praising the Kiwi's performance. The second is that Paddon has expressed the view that the Fiesta is not suited to his driving style and vice versa, so in his view at least, a move to Ford would not seem to be beneficial to either the driver or the team. And third, Hayden has openly stated that he will be in the WRC in 2015.
So, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise if Citroen were to run a third car for Kubica and Hyundai continued with Paddon driving for Hyundai's Motorsport N team, the latter being somewhat more likely than the former.
I don't profess to understand Citroen's apparent reluctance to complete to their driver lineup publicly - with the majority of the drivers already committed to teams now, it can't be down to sensitivity of negotiations, or budget uncertainty since Matton has already confirmed their main sponsor is on board for 2015 at least. It's a puzzle...
The Hyundai scenario is a little more complicated. Even if Hayden gets another stint with the team, there are questions to be answered about the kind of programme he would get. Not only will Nandan have to run two cars and highly paid drivers over the season, the coming year will see the introduction of the totally new model i20, with all the expense that entails. So clearly budget will again be a limiting factor for the Kiwi.
I'd like to think that the Kubica and Paddon questions would be answered by the conclusion of next weekend's round in Wales, and that both drivers would get a full year's programme in 2015, but right now that outcome seems less than assured.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE
Paddon has responded to media questions about his 2015 season with some additional info.
He's not doing the Monte round. In fact he's set his sights on competing on all gravel rounds but seems to have accepted that he won't do any tarmac events. There was no comment about whether he plans to enter Rally Sweden. So an expanded programme for the Kiwi but perhaps only by two events.
He has stated that his preference is to remain in the Hyundai camp but has admitted to talking to "others" though he says that nothing is likely to be resolved for another couple of weeks. Speculation so far suggests that M-Sport could be a potential home for '15, although that doesn't seem likely given Hayden's appraisal of his Fiesta RS experience in the past. But hey, stranger things have happened. M-Sport's Wilson has stated that he should be able to confirm the team's lineup next week.
However this works out for the Kiwi, all signs point to his being privately funded for next year, a works drive not fitting the scenarios that he has spoken of. But we shall see...
FINAL UPDATE TO THE UPDATED UPDATE
Rumours have materialised suggesting that Mads will have backing in 2015 from the Adapta rally team, the Ostberg family-funded concern. If that's the case, he can pretty much choose whichever team he wishes, which might also explain why Yves Matton has been reluctant, or unable, to confirm his #2 driver thus far.
Naturally, Mads would look to get the best deal as well as best fit possible in his chosen team. The possible candidates are Adapta, Citroen, M-Sport and even Hyundai. VW would appear to be out of the frame.
Okay, I'm done on this. We await remaining developments with interest.
Meanwhile, WRGB kicks off its stages in a few hours, so onto that now. All the best to the teams and I'm looking for a really enthralling competition. :-)
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