Ford have approached Citroen Junior driver Sebastien Ogier to drive for their team in 2011. Ogier has impressed in 2010, winning his first rally in Portugal. Furthermore, he will replace the disappointing Dani Sordo in the main Citroen team for the remaining gravel rallies this year. Ogier is expected to make a decision on which team he would like to drive for in the next couple of weeks.
There is the potential for quite a lot of movement in the driver market for 2011. New rules will see both Ford and Citroen introduce new cars, the Fiesta and DS3 respectively. In 2010, Citroen have run 4 C4s on each event across its two teams, plus a privately-entered car for Petter Solberg. Ford meanwhile have entered up to eight of its Focus WRCs on any one event this year across its teams. The new rules will cause a problem in 2011, as neither Ford nor Citroen will want to run that many of its new cars.
Ford have said that if Ogier joins them he will drive a third Fiesta alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, who are already under contract for next year. A further complication is that Sebastien Loeb has yet to confirm his future in the WRC. Kimi Raikkonen is also yet to confirm his future. With Citroen disappointed with Dani Sordo's performances on gravel, they could end up with no drivers next year. Hopefully they will be able to give Petter Solberg a new DS3.
Ford meanwhile may have to run Khalid Al Qassimi in a Fiesta WRC in order to keep the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority happy, who are title sponsors of the team. Add to this son of the team boss, Matthew Wilson, and drivers such as Federico Villagra, Henning Solberg and Ken Block, who all bring sponsors money, Ford could have a headache running cars for all these drivers. The best solution may be to run one Stobart Fiesta for Wilson, who is developing the new car, plus another car that could be shared by Villagra, Solberg and Block across the season. A Fiesta S2000 could be provided for them to use on other events.
There is of course the chance of more manufacturers joining next year. Prodrive have been linked to a project with Mini, while Toyota Europe are looking at joining one of the WRC, WTCC or GT1. The VW group has also been rumoured, either with its main brand or with Skoda, who already run an S2000 programme in the IRC.
There is the potential for quite a lot of movement in the driver market for 2011. New rules will see both Ford and Citroen introduce new cars, the Fiesta and DS3 respectively. In 2010, Citroen have run 4 C4s on each event across its two teams, plus a privately-entered car for Petter Solberg. Ford meanwhile have entered up to eight of its Focus WRCs on any one event this year across its teams. The new rules will cause a problem in 2011, as neither Ford nor Citroen will want to run that many of its new cars.
Ford have said that if Ogier joins them he will drive a third Fiesta alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, who are already under contract for next year. A further complication is that Sebastien Loeb has yet to confirm his future in the WRC. Kimi Raikkonen is also yet to confirm his future. With Citroen disappointed with Dani Sordo's performances on gravel, they could end up with no drivers next year. Hopefully they will be able to give Petter Solberg a new DS3.
Ford meanwhile may have to run Khalid Al Qassimi in a Fiesta WRC in order to keep the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority happy, who are title sponsors of the team. Add to this son of the team boss, Matthew Wilson, and drivers such as Federico Villagra, Henning Solberg and Ken Block, who all bring sponsors money, Ford could have a headache running cars for all these drivers. The best solution may be to run one Stobart Fiesta for Wilson, who is developing the new car, plus another car that could be shared by Villagra, Solberg and Block across the season. A Fiesta S2000 could be provided for them to use on other events.
There is of course the chance of more manufacturers joining next year. Prodrive have been linked to a project with Mini, while Toyota Europe are looking at joining one of the WRC, WTCC or GT1. The VW group has also been rumoured, either with its main brand or with Skoda, who already run an S2000 programme in the IRC.
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