Malcolm is unhappy.
Having had a sniff of something promising with Elfyn Evans's Corsican turnaround, the future, while not exactly looking rosy, was certainly not appearing as bleak as it had prior. That glimmer of hope has all but evaporated after a disastrous Spanish WRC round, where the team scored just three points. Behind second placed Citroen by a challenging 14 points at the conclusion of the Corsica round, M-Sport is now in arrears to the double chevron brand by 33 points, effectively ruling the Cumbrian firm out of the running with only RallyGB remaining, barring some miraculous turnaround in form by its drivers. And catastrophic runs from its competitors.
The WRC insiders have their rumour antennaes aquiver with anticipation over what happens now and the consensus, if such a thing exists, is that M-Sport is on the verge of cleaning house of its current drivers. This speculation isn't helped by reports that team boss Wilson has told his young guns that Wales is their last chance to redeem themselves and angle for a seat with the Fiesta-running constructor in 2015. One cannot help but wonder if even a good run on the Welsh stages would be simply too little, too late for the crews.
Over the last 24 hours, a further strand of intel has surfaced suggesting that Wilson has in fact been exploring another avenue and that the approach he is considering is a radical departure from this season - something sure to "raise a few eyebrows". No details have appeared as yet, but considering the source of the speculation, it will be only a matter of time before this development breaks cover. Assuming that it's not simply the fevered imaginings of the terminally bored, of course.
Returning to Evans and Tanak, Elfyn has been quiet regarding the seemingly imminent interruption to his WRC career whereas Ott has made a forthright statement to the WRC media that he has no idea where his seat will be in 2016, if at all, and the Estonian has confirmed that he believes he has performed to the best of his ability this year. Besides the possibility of something exceptional happening for him in Wales, he's resigned to the notion that he left everything out there and if what he has already delivered isn't enough for the team bosses, then he'll be doing something else for a crust in 2016.
A very honest appraisal indeed.
But Malcolm has company in the grumpy corner. Yves Matton has been somewhat outspoken regarding the #1 team drivers in Citroen's WRC squad, putting them on notice that their seats are not safe, while also putting them on probation. Actually, the three event probation period finished after the Spanish round of the WRC, after which the crews were to be told their fate for 2016. Nothing has leaked, as this is written, to offer enlightenment as to their futures, but the rumour mill has for some time suggested that Mads will keep his seat while Meeke will be looking for a new home, something that he seems to have been doing anyway, regardless of the official Matton decision.
Kris is a very pragmatic person.
The grumpy corner has another inhabitant of course, none other than Michel Nandan, who isn't too pleased with the Korean team's lead driver Thierry Neuville. Michel doesn't get involved much in the verbal stoush side of running a WRC team, but then he has Alain Penasse to do the vocalising for him. And Alain is not afraid to say what he thinks. So Thierry has been mentioned in less than flattering terms across the 2015 season as the disappointing performances by the Belgian have mounted. Rather unwisely, Neuville has fired back which has won him no friends within the Hyundai squad. On the contrary, the Hyundai #1 is in serious danger of being out of a job in 2016 if his attitude and current slump don't take a turn for the better in Wales.
It's all a bit of a mess really. Yet, that's not unusual in professional sport, and motorsport is no exception - cough F1 cough - so does it really matter? Well yes, actually, because in most sports, there are a larger number of top level competitors than the meagre 10 or so we see in WRC, and a much larger number of teams. So when the WRC fertiliser strikes the turbine, the options are seriously limited. It doesn't take long for drivers to exhaust team options and for teams to run out of fresh drivers to plunder. And now a couple of the smarter teams have parked the 'one year contract' scenario for multi-year, effectively locking in their valued assets for longer tenures and depriving their competition from access to them.
Basically, M-Sport and Citroen are in danger of finding themselves excluded from the freshest and best produce on the WRC market. This year's silly season has an altogether darker demeanour than in the past.
So what's going to make Malcolm happy? He doesn't have the budget to entice two of the top guns to join his enterprise, but he may well be satisfied with a discounted top gun, and a young gun whose motivation is less about the money right now and more about the opportunity to improve.
Petter and Elfyn in 2016? You didn't hear it from me...
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