My guess is Ogier will stay and M-Sport will centre on him for the 2018 Driver's title.
They wont worry about the Manu's after winning this year.
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My guess is Ogier will stay and M-Sport will centre on him for the 2018 Driver's title.
They wont worry about the Manu's after winning this year.
I'd say the respect is mutual.
When he went to the factory he made a point of introducing himself to everyone, cleaners included that took longer than was planned.
He's seen as a gentleman & maybe there's just something about a smaller group of people that'll come on over their Xmas hols to make changes to his car because of who he is & what he's done to this team. There's not a lot of work in that corner of Cumbria.
They've had everything they could want as shown by the recent two day test in Wales. After the tank comment I've never heard a bad word said.
But look at M-Sport. They've so much going on in their racing series that they compete in across the world & of course their rallying side.
Is it like a family-I'd guess so & is there a lot of extra time away from home doing PR ? I doubt it.
Would you step out of the championship winning team in any other form ?
No & the sensible choice is another two years there, developing the car more to his style & long may the dream continue.
They have Evans and he have some good results this year: 6, 6, 9, 2, 6, 8, 2, 6, 7 (with DMACK tyres). And 2 more round to come. I'm sure he will score some good scores, now with Ott gone he is obvious 2nd driver in the team so he would get Michelin rubber and be maybe even better next year.
All will be different if Ogi will left, then they are screwed...
They are not driving for free, they still have payed a lot more in one year than most of you guys will ever get payed in lifetime... It's just not as high as Ogier like 10 millions per year...
In a factory team such as Toyota, Hyundai or Citroen, the factory is paying for your racing expenses and your salary. In M-Sport, there's no factory paying the bills and the funding is not so straightforward. Most M-Sport drivers have external sponsors and backers to cover the expenses and to get some salary as well. It's been said that Tänak didn't get salary from M-Sport until this season and that Evans's racing expenses are covered by DMack sponsorship and his salary comes mainly from Red Bull sponsorship. If you look at Suninen's car, there's a lot of sponsor decals. And it's been said that Camilli has private backers to support his career. However, it could be that Evans is in the same position at M-Sport as Tänak was this year, driving without the support of external sponsors.
Tony Simpson presenter on Absolute Rally saying he has it on good authority that Ogier IS staying at M-Sport for 2018.
Nothing real surprisingly ;)