Originally Posted by
Danny0405
Here is the way I classify the young drivers (it’s my opinion, not an absolute truth).
I consider that there is, at the moment, 10 drivers that could reach the Rally1 level in the next 2 years. This excludes a potential skyrocketing progression of another driver and drivers with WRC experience such as Mikkelsen and Suninen that cannot be compare.
Then I classify them in 4 different categories depending on their experience (number of years with a serious R5-Rally2 program, number of rally starts, number of WRC starts in a R5-Rally2 car, number of ERC starts in a R5-Rally2 car).
The «*very experienced young drivers*»: Gryazin, Veiby
The «*experienced young drivers*»: Rossel, Lindholm, Huttunen. I consider that the gap in terms of experience with the former category corresponds to around 1 season of Rally2 development.
The «*hybrid young drivers*»: Ingram, Bulacia, Ciamin. Their figures are not that different than the Lindholm-Huttunen-Rossel group but they have a special context that justifies the difference, which corresponds, IMO, to 1 season of Rally2 development.
The prospects: Linnamae, Cais. I consider the gap with the hybrid category to be 1 season of Rally2 development.
Then, I take a look to the results (consistency, speed and level of the car).
For the last 5 drivers I quote, I consider that, at the moment, their level are a little slow to compete for a Rally1 drive (they are not able to really compete for a WRC rally RC2-class win in a normal context so it would be as sending Fourmaux in the Rally1 car). For me, to be a competitor for Rally1 car, you must be able to compete for Rally2 class wins, at least on some fields. But then, if they progress, they can be candidate (and overtake the others) because they all have some potential.
Then, when I take the experienced and very experienced chaps, the last months (or even years) from Huttunen and Veiby were quite complicated for different reasons (personal, quality of the car, ...) so it’s difficult to put them in the contest at the moment.
So it lets Gryazin, Rossel and Lindholm. When I take a look at the result since the beginning of 2021 season in WRC (because it’s the best competition to compare them), for me (and again it’s only my opinion), they are pretty equal: yeah, Gryazin is probably faster (but Lindholm can also be really quick) but Rossel is more consistent and at a good speed also. In terms of versatility, I would put Gryazin and Lindholm slightly over Rossel because the French doesn’t drive in fast gravel and snow.
+ through the last 14 months, I see more progress from Lindholm and Rossel than from Gryazin.
So globally, in terms of current level, they are pretty much the same for me; but as Gryazin has one additional year of development, I consider that Rossel and Lindholm have more potential so, if I was Toyota or Hyundai boss and I had a 7-round Rally1 program to give to prepare the future, I would give him to one of them (for sure, M-Sport’s situation is not the same because of the financial aspects). Ok, I can admit that the Lindholm-Gryazin call is a close one.