Think back to Rally Spain 2003 and one thing comes to mind, that classic Loeb-Panizzi battle for the win.
Sixteen positions behind the ultimately second-placed Frenchman was a driver Loeb would go on to count among his best buddies and closest allies in the WRC; two decades ago last month Dani Sordo set foot on the world stage.
This week’s Rally Japan marks the Spaniard’s 189th WRC start and heading east, one of the story lines was the Spaniard’s future. Would this be the 40-year-old’s final drive in a factory car at the sport’s highest level?
Now we know. It won’t be.
Hyundai’s confirmation that Esapekka Lappi will step back to a half-season prompted Sordo to talk about his plans for next year.
Opinion will be split on whether he should stay. After two decades at the top, isn’t it time for him to give somebody else a chance?
Sordo’s one of the nicest people I know in the championship. Always has been. He’s upfront, honest and sincere. Especially with his team-mates. The thought of Sordo being in anyway duplicitous in his set-up or tire choice is laughable.
Those are just some of the reasons why he and Loeb got on and get on so well.
I agree wholeheartedly, none of the above is a good, tactical or strategic reason to keep Sordo on beyond the end of the season. So, try this…
Sordo’s averaged between 10 and 11 points for every event he’s done in the last six years. That’s an average of fifth place. That, my friends, is what you call a third-car banker for a manufacturer.
And I don’t see that average dipping for the next year.
After that? To continue that banking theme, investing in a younger driver will make sense and offer a longer-term return.
There’s no doubting Sordo’s given the ball a fair kick across the last 20 years. Three wins might not sound massive across so many WRC starts, but the consistency factor is astonishing – he’s been on the podium on almost every third event. Including his last start in Greece.
News of Lappi’s program comes as no surprise at all. The wider question sitting in Cyril Abiteboul’s inbox is what to do with the other half of the year. Teemu Suninen has put his hand up and shown he’s capable of doing a solid job – but he would be a different kind of third driver. He’s a third driver with absolute aspirations of a full-time role; if he spies the chance of a result, he might not be quite so quick to think of the team’s bigger picture in the way Sordo would.
My DirtFish colleague Colin Clark has banged on consistently about running two Finns in a shared third seat – he simply doesn’t see the sense. They both want the same rallies. Colin’s point is an eminently sensible one. So maybe Sordo steps in on the asphalt? But he’s talking about doing four or five events. Lappi’s deal has yet to be fleshed out, so maybe the plan plays out that the third car will be split three ways.
That would make sense in lots of ways.
