Neuville + M-Sport could take on Ogier

The gloom gathered and as a fine Finnish mist turned to a late-summer drizzle, I sensed the conversation was over. The talk had dried up. Unlike the weather.

Over a cup of tea in August 2013, I was talking shop with one of M-Sport's long-termers. We'd been through the glory days - the Tommi Makinen win in an Escort Cosworth; Marrko Martin in the 2003 Focus and then, of course, Marcus Gronholm versus Mikko Hirvonen versus Jari-Matti Latvala.

Good 1000 Lakes days. Great cars.

And now this: a Belgian leading in Finland. On only his second attempt at what remains world rallying's highest-speed conundrum.

Thierry Neuville had, most definitely, arrived. He'd hooked his first ever podium in Mexico, an attritional rally where a sensible approach has been known to pay dividends.

The same could be said for the Acropolis, even in its more modern form. Neuville was third there as well.

Neuville kept joining the VW men on the podium in 2013 © McKlein

Notice was taken when he was second next time out in Sardinia... But this, leading in Finland on his second time through these woods? That was unheard of.

Which made the melancholy mood at M-Sport all the more surprising. Its driver Neuville was walking on water with a Ford Fiesta RS WRC beneath him.

The reason for the gathering gloom was the appreciation that the team's latest superstar was likely to be on the move at the end of the season. He would, informed opinion said, follow the € signs and head for Hyundai.

Don't forget, that was 2013. Ford's withdrawal from the World Rally Championship was only eight months old and, without another multi-million-pound backer galloping towards Cockermouth, M-Sport's chances of landing another win were looking bleak.

"He's got it, you know," said my M-Sport-shirted tea-sharer. "He'll go all the way. He's got the speed and, more importantly, he's got the attitude."

Turns out he also had a contract in his pocket. And it was written in Korean.

The second half of his only season with M-Sport remains the highlight of Neuville's career. Yes, his win in Germany last year was good, but that was nothing compared with the sustained speed he showed over the second half of 2013; six podiums from the final eight rallies netted him the runner-up spot in the championship. Only Sebastien Ogier's Volkswagen beat him.

And that was in Neuville's second full season in the championship. That Mexican podium we talked about, that was only his 22nd start in the world championship.

Neuville won in Germany last year, but others ahead had crashed © McKlein

If he'd stayed with M-Sport last season, he would have celebrated far more than a gifted win in Trier. This year, with even more experience, he could have been fighting for the title in a Fiesta - especially with the obvious improvements and hike in speed coming from M-Sport's latest World Rally Car weaponry, launching this week in Portugal.

But he went. 'Terry Neville' drove out of Dovenby Hall for one final time and headed east.

And who's to say he was wrong? Hyundai is paying him well, and the new i20 WRC is looking like a very good car.

But will he be driving it?

Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan is insistent that Neuville's contract is in place for next year. But those close to the Belgian aren't so sure. There's a chance, just a chance, they reckon he could be going back to Cockermouth.

Granted, M-Sport will have to find a chunk of cash to lure the bespectacled one back to its place, but there's no doubting the desire on both sides to see... what if?

And Neuville is worth the money. Well worth the money.

Evans is currently M-Sport's leading light © McKlein

It's hard to write these words without them sounding harsh on current M-Sport hotshoes Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak, both of whom could well blossom into drivers well capable of tackling the feisty Frenchman and his Polo.

But they themselves would have to admit that they're not the finished product right now. They're not heading to Portugal next week looking to knock Ogier off his stride by taking a 10th of a second per kilometre out of him in the first stage.

They're not looking for ways to get under his skin, to destabilise him and put him on the psychological back foot. No, they're going there in the hunt of a possible podium, but more importantly solid points and a good result for the new car.


Neuville wants to win. Wants to put one over his rival. Wants to show the world he's the best rally driver around.

Sebastien Ogier?

Sebastien who?

Neuville's self-belief is right there, and so are the stage times. What he did in Sweden and early doors in Mexico was unreasonable in the motor he's got beneath him. Right now, Neuville's the man giving Hyundai its edge, its tenth tenth.

Granted, he crashed out in Argentina when he should have played the team game and taken the points. But it was the powerstage. He knew Ogier would be on it and pushing like hell, and he spotted an opportunity to take the master on.

Neuville doesn't get everything right... © McKlein

That time, it went wrong.

But it's that get-out-of-my-way mentality that M-Sport would dearly love to see back in one of its cars next year.

And with it, there's no doubt the team's first ever drivers' title would be a very, very real possibility.

Evans is flattening his learning curve beautifully and, when everything's working for him, he's capable of turning in some unbeatable sector times. It's now a matter of turning those sector times to stage times, stage times to leg-leading times and then winning days into winning rallies. And championships.

It's the classic building process; the Richard Burns approach to constructing a winner.

Evans has 99 per cent - which is far more than many drivers who have enjoyed long and fruitful factory WRC careers in the past - but only time will tell if the 100th is there to be unlocked.

The other thing Elfyn needs is another shot of self-confidence. He's taken a massive - like quantum - leap from last year, but now's the time to understand he's there on merit. It's time to let the natural talent come through and talk on his behalf.

Incidents such as the Mexico lake crash have dented Tanak's confidence © McKlein

And there's no denying Tanak's speed, but he's now in that confidence-stripping world of crashing, and then trying to force what he would usually be doing in his sleep. Tanak knows he can drive, but he's so worried about putting the car off that he's restricting his own ability.

Give both of those guys another full season in 2016 and it's almost certain that one or the other would be in the position Neuville's in now.

But this is now. Not then.

And M-Sport's 80-per-cent-new car is sitting shiny, purposeful and ready in the build bay.

It's ready now. And will be more than ready next year.

It's not often that a new car looks visibly quicker. It did when I watched Evans rocketing through Greystoke in the test car last month. It even did when the Portugal event cars were being put through their systems check at Kirkbride last week.

The car comes complete with a new engine, this time completely designed, developed and built by M-Sport. Machined from a solid chunk of aluminium, dry-sumped and charged with electronics straight off the firm's beautiful Bentley Continental GT3 race car, the 2015 Ford Fiesta RS WRC is a proper piece of kit.

M-Sport has put huge effort into its new car

The new engine has widened both torque and power bands to potentially Polo-pasting levels. Significant work from Xtrac on the gearbox and differentials has sharpened turn-in no end, and even the paddleshift's got quicker - pneumatic on the old car, it's hydraulic now.

And there's more to come from the engine. Spray patterns from the direct injection are being investigated and refined to aid efficiency and performance, and a damper overhaul is next on the agenda for the autumn.

The cost of all this?

Malcolm Wilson laughs. He's not going to tell me.

What he will say is that there's more than one person inside M-Sport who think he's crazy for investing so much.

He's not crazy. Not yet, anyway.

What might drive him crazy is seeing the new car's potential not being used stage-in-stage-out by a driver at the top of his game wanting to be at the top of world. Yesterday.

Tomorrow, that driver will probably be Evans and/or Tanak.

Today, it's Neuville.

The latest issue of AUTOSPORT magazine includes an in-depth focus on the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC and what it means for M-Sport's future