Among the WRC teams, only Toyota has completely locked down its driver lineup for next season. Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta will drive in all the competitions, while world champion Kalle Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier will compete only in selected WRC rallies.
Hyundai has contracts for next year with Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, and Esapekka Lappi. Lappi’s contract covers only about half of the races. On the other hand, M-Sport Ford has not yet announced any contracts for the 2024 season.
Over the weekend, wild rumors emerged from Belgium, mentioning Emil Lindholm’s name in connection with a Rally1 car. La Derniere Heure journalist Olivier de Wilde hints that French driver Adrien Fourmaux will likely drive M-Sport’s Ford Puma Rally1 car next season, and Emil Lindholm is also a candidate for the Puma’s cockpit.
De Wilde states in his publication that a French and a Nordic driver, likely Lindholm – or someone else, will probably compete in Monte Carlo with the Puma.
Lindholm clinched the WRC2 class championship last year with Toksport team’s Skoda. He switched camps during the 2023 season when he jumped to Hyundai’s WRC2 program.
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener has emphasized lately that the team plans is to incorporate younger drivers into its lineup to develop future stars. However, Lindholm’s name has not previously come up in Millener’s talks or even in significant rumors.
Additionally, the Belgian journalist reports that Esapekka Lappi is expected to get a new teammate at Hyundai. According to de Wilde, this year’s WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen is making a return to Hyundai’s factory team, where he would share driving duties in the third i20 N Rally1 car with Lappi and Spanish driver Dani Sordo.
Hyundai has not confirmed these speculations. Sordo has previously stated he would like to continue his career on a part-time basis. If the rumors turn out to be true, the situation does not look good for Teemu Suninen, who has also been eyeing new opportunities to showcase his skills in Hyundai’s WRC rally car.
Mikkelsen last competed in the WRC class in the 2019 season as a Hyundai driver. The Norwegian finished fourth in the championship standings but was left without a WRC team spot at the end of the season.
Driver news is expected from Hyundai and M-Sport soon, as the registration for the season-opening 2024 Rally Monte Carlo has indeed already started.
