That's big. Kalle is such an interesting guy. He has seemed bored since during and since he won his championships. So hard to know....Ogier was not good in a WEC piece. I wonder how much rally translates to other disciplines. He is talented for sure, but I just don't know. Seems like a guy who resents not having a real life, and is searching.
Huh. That's how I've felt about Tiger Woods for years. You put so much of your life into something that there's no room left for anything else. When that one thing is fading, you fight to stay in it because otherwise you're scrambling for something, anything else. See also Darryl Waltrip's last several seasons.
Yeah, and I think that Kalle has already been doing it for so long that racing defines him. I don't really believe that this is a career trajectory so much as it is a pathway out altogether.
Well he does love racing. Whenever he wasn't testing or racing in WRC he was in Japan for Drifting competitions.
I think that Toyota will eventually buy out Hass, and I am thinking that this would be the target as far as F! goes. If that is what Toyota does, I am concerned. This is kind of the approach they took the first go at F1....latching on to an up and comer while trying to develop a car. I don't see this ending well, but who knows? I hope it wprks out. I think the circuit stuff was because Kalle had become disinterested in WRC after winning two championships. The other big part of Kalle's dissatisfaction with rally is the constant huge disadvantage the series leader has to assume with road order stuff. Ogier hates this rule. The series leader has to overcome so much on gravel and snow to win....and winning is everything. I think it sucks the life out of the sport's greatest stars. Ogier is going to win the thing this year because he started the season as a part timer which allowed him a preferred road order slot. I think that was the nail in the coffin for Kalle. All he has been doing his whole life is driving. He is a rich 25 year old now, Rich 25 year olds want to play....freedom.....and so he has it. As far as the WRC goes....yes, there is trouble. Toyota,.....and the series is begging Hyundai to hang on. M-Sport is more Ford than it used to be, but still a privateer......so, 2 1/2 manufacturers really, and not much interest. Toyota is trying to carry the series reaching into the development series....not sure how long all of this is sustainable.
Kalle never complained about the road order as much as Ogier did. In 2022 he dominated the gravel rallies despite starting first, his level of determination just hasn't been the same since.
Pretty much everyone would be shocked if Hyundai stuck around after 2026. M-Sport has close to zero factory support but they and Toyota seem to be the only ones committed to building a car for the 2027 rules.
Kalle doesn't complain nor is he flamboyant....kind of a Finnish thing....but when you listen to what he was saying, he has been none to happy about being handcuffed by his own brilliance. Ogier measures himself against himself....not in championships won IMO...although that is somewhat arguable given that he has decided to go full-time with the championship in sight. How many could he have without the reverse road order rule?
