Метка: Hyundai Motorsport

Ogier takes shock lead as Neuville, Evans crash

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Ogier started the morning 11.6 seconds adrift of Neuville but similar accidents for both Neuville and Evans have pushed the eight-time world champion into a 9.1s lead over Evans.

Evans and Neuville both reached the end of stage 18 with damaged cars — with the latter, who started the day leading by 4.9s, now dropping to third, 10.2s in arrears.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak survived a moment in stage 18 to maintain fourth [+1m02.3s] while M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux handed fifth overall to Takamoto Katsuta [+1m57.1s]. Katsuta also leads the Super Sunday classification by 3.9s from Tanak.

Sunday morning began with a blast through the wide and open roads of stage 17 [Trakoscan-Vrbno, 13.15km] with the lead trio all opting for different tyre strategies to add extra intrigue to the victory battle. Rally leader Neuville selected one hard and four softs, while Evans chose three hards and two softs and Ogier opted for two hards and three softs.

Evans’ decision appeared to help the Welshman on the increasingly dirty road as the early runners dragged gravel onto the surface. The Toyota driver managed to take 2.3s out of leader Neuville to chop the deficit down to 2.6s with three stages remaining.

“I’m pretty surprised already, lots of pollution and quite slippery especially at the end of stage — overall quite good,” said Evans.

Neuville wasn’t overly concerned by Evans’ attack and felt confident his tyre decision would come back to him as the loop progressed.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“We have different tyre choices, this one will be really dirty on the second pass,” said Neuville. “For the next one I think we have better tyres.

“It’s OK, it’s a dirty road in the morning and we lose a bit of time, but we’re going to push hard.”

Ogier struggled to find the feeling behind the wheel of his GR Yaris but was able to match Neuville’s time to remain 11.6s adrift of the leader.

The stage was won by Katsuta, who took an early lead in the Super Sunday classification. The Toyota driver was 1.8s faster than Fourmaux with Evans third fastest. Tanak was fourth quickest despite battling a stage he claimed was “full of gravel”.

But the rally was turned on its head in stage 18 [Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec, 14.24km] as Neuville, Evans and Fourmaux all hit trouble.

Fourmaux was the first to make an error as he clipped an anti-cut device, which damaged his front right. The M-Sport driver pulled off the road to fix the car and eventually reached the stage end after losing more than 16 minutes.

“After a corner I snapped the steering arm, sometimes it bends, sometimes it breaks,” said Fourmaux. “This time it breaks. We need to score some points today, so we need to regroup and look forward to the Power Stage.”

Tanak also had what he called “more than a moment” running off the road, on his way to winning the stage, but he fared much better than lead duo Evans and Neuville.

Evans clipped a bank with the left rear of his GR Yaris, which pitched the car into a spin, costing the Welshman a vital 19.6s.

“It was just a slippery place, hit the rear hard on the left and it just took off and spun the car unfortunately,” said Evans.

Minutes later, rally leader Neuville ran into a bank, this time with the right rear of his i20 N, resulting in damage to the front and rear wing. The Belgian, who dropped 23.3s to third overall, blamed the incident on a late pacenote.

“There was a lot of corners, when I got the pacenote it was far too late,” said Neuville. “We lost 20 seconds to Ogier so it’s a shame because everything was going well.”

Ogier was third fastest in the stage but inherited the lead ahead of a repeat of the morning stages, which will conclude the rally.



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Neuville, Evans tied for WRC Croatia lead «something special»

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai’s Neuville and Toyota driver Evans incredibly clocked identical overall times to sit tied for the lead on Friday night after 119.74 competitive stage kilometres.

Neuville claimed three of the four morning stages on the way to opening up a 10.1-second lead over Evans until a puncture on stage six cost the Belgian valuable time.

Evans moved into a 1.6s lead before Neuville responded on the final test to match Evans at the top of the leaderboard.

While the top two couldn’t be separated on times, only 6.6s covered the top three following Sebastien Ogier’s stunning victory on stage eight.

The hard-fought battle has arrived while the championship’s future is firmly in the spotlight as discussions continue among the teams and the FIA to resolve next year’s Rally1 technical regulations.

The FIA wishes to remove hybrid power and decrease the performance of the cars through a reduction in aero and the air restrictor, although these proposed changes have been strongly opposed by the teams.

Asked about the battle for the rally victory, Latvala told Autosport: “It is exciting. In the morning it was looking like it was going to be a tough day for us because Thierry was so strong on the first stage, and I thought our chances were not going to be so great.

“But the drivers improved over the day and eventually having exactly the same time with Thierry and Elfyn is something special.”

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

Hyundai’s WRC programme manager Christian Loriaux added: “It shows the World Rally Championship is exciting and it is close, and it is worth existing, that is for sure. It [Thierry and Elfyn sharing the lead] is quite amazing.”

Evans is among a group of drivers keen for the current Rally1 regulations to remain in place next year and believes the close battle is proof the technical formula works.

“It is good. We know that the technical formula has worked for many years now and the cars and the battles are always close — like I’ve always said, that side works,” Evans told Autosport.

Reflecting on his own performance across the eight stages, Evans felt he left some time on the table, particularly in the final stage, but ultimately was satisfied with his Friday showing.

“There were quite a few things [we could have done better], but overall, it was still quite a good day,” he said.

“I was disappointed with the last stage as I think there was time left in there.

“I think the third stage I was a bit too careful in a few places, but you have to try and find that balance in those conditions to get to the end and go quickly.”

Although the pacesetter for much of Friday, assisted by a road position advantage, Neuville admitted that he had “to give everything” to recover the lost ground after the puncture, and tame his i20 N.

“I mean it was definitely a good fight out there,” said Neuville. “We had to give everything in every stage.

“We are in the lead equal with Elfyn but we lost important seconds this afternoon with our puncture and I was just generally struggling a bit with the balance of the car.

“It got a bit better toward the end of the day, but the last stage was massive dust, so there was lots of cleaning and there was not much more we could have done.”

The rally continues on Saturday although rain showers are expected to add to the challenge for the crews.

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Neuville, Evans tied for the lead after eight stages

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai’s Neuville and Toyota’s Evans couldn’t be split after 119.74 competitive stage kilometres, ending the day with identical overall times.

Neuville had been in control of the rally, winning three of the four morning stages that contributed to a 10.1-second lead over Evans, before knocking a tyre off the rim in stage six.

This strife helped Evans close to within 0.1s before the Welshman moved 1.6s in front. However, Neuville fought back on the day’s final stage to claim a share of the lead.

Sebastien Ogier also hauled himself into the victory fight with a stunning final stage effort to close to within 6.6s of the lead pair.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who steadily found improvements after a slow start to the rally held fourth, 41.1s in arrears, while M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five [+52.7s].

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta [+1m37.8s], Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen [+2m37.8s] and M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster [+3m07.3s] completed the Rally1 field.

The weather threw a curveball to crews at the start of the afternoon as light snow began to fall at the start of stage five [Platak, 16.63km].

Neuville was first to tackle the conditions that became increasingly wet with every pass, particularly for the Rally1 crews. The Hyundai driver admitted that the surprise weather change made the stage “dangerous” but his run was good enough to claim a fourth stage win.

“It is very dangerous to be honest as we had now information from the route note crew and, at that speed we are going, there are plenty of surprises,” said Neuville.

“You have to trust your feeling and keep you eyes wide open. Nobody told us it was going to snow in there.”

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Evans posted the second-fastest time, 1.5s slower than Neuville as the deficit to the rally leader increased to 10.1s.

Starting sixth on the road, Ogier faced the dampest conditions but was still able to post the third-fastest time, 5.4s slower than Neuville.

Fourmaux managed to close the gap to fourth to 3.9s after edging Tanak by 0.4s, despite having a moment in the stage.

In contrast, Tanak’s struggles behind the wheel of his i20 N from the morning continued into the afternoon. The Hyundai driver reported an issue with his rear tyres.

“It snowed so much and I had some issues with the rear tyre,” said Tanak. “Some set-up changes are necessary. I think the tyres don’t really matter at the moment.”

All Rally1 crews made it through the stage unscathed as Mikkelsen, Katsuta and Munster rounded out the top eight.

Dry conditions returned for stage six [Ravna Gora – Skrad, 10.13km], which proved to be the most dramatic of the day.

Rally leader Neuville clipped a rock after the second split, knocking his front-right tyre off the rim, resulting in a 10s time loss to nearest rival Evans.

“There was a stone in the road, which I tried to avoid, but I was so close and it immediately punctured the tyre,” said Neuville.

Evans took the stage win by 1.1s from Ogier, who survived running wide onto the grass at a tight left-hander.

There were signs of a Tanak recovery as the Estonian benefitted from some “small improvements” on the car to clock the third-fastest time, 2.0s slower than Evans. The Hyundai driver was 3.8s faster than Fourmaux to extend his gap over the Frenchman in the fight for fourth to 7.7s.

The battle at the front then took a twist on the penultimate stage of the day as Evans overhauled Neuville.

Evans was able to complete stage seven [Jaskovo — Mali Modrus Potok, 9.48km] with a time 1.7s faster than his Hyundai rival that arrived amid concerns that his left-rear tyre had come off the rim.

“I know I can go faster but I don’t trust, I will make mistake so have to take it slow,” said Neuville.

Ogier claimed stage seven by 0.3s to edge closer to Evans and Neuville as the Frenchman continued to hold third overall. Tanak also pulled further clear of Fourmaux as the former beat the Ford driver, who was fighting his Puma in the stage, by 5.4s.

The final stage of the day belonged to Ogier, who delivered a head-turning effort, 9.2s faster than next best Fourmaux, the latter taking advantage of a set-up tweak.

Ogier was 9.4s faster than Neuville and 11s quicker than Evans to surge into the victory fight. But Evans’ deficit to Neuville in the stage meant the pair ended the day leading the rally on identical times.

Saturday’s leg of the rally features eight stages, comprising 108.7 kilometres.



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Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Neuville’s i20 N was struck by a fuel system issue at Safari Rally Kenya that ended any hopes of a podium finish.

The problem resulted in the Belgian losing more than 10 minutes, dropping from second to fifth overall. At the time Neuville, who leads Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by six points in the championship, felt the problem wasn’t related to the rally’s unique set of conditions.

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul says the team has addressed and understood the problem which has resulted in changes ahead of this weekend’s visit to Croatia’s asphalt stages.

“We will try to make sure he [Thierry] has the right car,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “He had lots of issue in Kenya and most of them have been well addressed and understood.

“There is no particular reason to see them happen here again, but we also saw that it was a bit of a snowball effect from Friday. The first thing we need is to have a clean Friday.

“We still have quite a few explanations [as to what happened in Kenya]. It is one of those things that is difficult to completely reproduce once you are not in Kenya anymore with the conditions we had there.

“We think it [the fuel system issues] was related to the conditions and we have made some changes and we have made a contingency plan to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but let’s see.”

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

After winning the only previous WRC round on asphalt this year in Monte Carlo, Neuville believes his i20 N has improved since his last year’s outing in Croatia, where he crashed out of the lead.

However, he is aware that Toyota boasts an undefeated record on Croatia’s challenging stages since the event joined the WRC schedule in 2021.

Neuville will pilot one of three i20 Ns carrying a special livery this weekend in honour of team-mate Craig Breen, who lost his life a year ago.

“We were strong last year but not that strong,” said Neuville, who was third fastest in Thursday’s shakedown behind Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier and Evans. “We were pushing hard but the car was not that great, and we were complaining a lot.

“This year we will be better, but we have to see how strong Toyota is, they have always been strong on tricky demanding tarmac stages, they have won every year.

“I feel good in the car, and I think we have improved it but is it going to be good enough, we will find out.”

While Neuville is looking to extend his championship lead, team-mate Ott Tanak says it is “critical” to deliver a “solid weekend” to ignite his championship hopes.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The 2019 world champion has been absent from the podium in the opening three rounds, while mistakes in Monte Carlo, Sweden and Kenya have placed the Estonian 34 points adrift of Neuville.

“It is always important to get a strong result. It has not been great and somehow it has affected the confidence, but it is critical to put a good, solid weekend together,” Tanak told Motorsport.com.

“Some pressure is there but the feeling in the car is not too bad. I’m pretty sure if we can do the right decisions we will be on the pace.”

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Hyundai to mark Breen anniversary with tribute livery, charity auction support

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The popular Irishman lost his life on 13 April last year after succumbing to injuries sustained in a testing crash, driving for Hyundai ahead of the Croatia round last year.

To mark the one-year anniversary of the tragic loss, Hyundai has set up an online auction of special items with all the proceeds going to the Craig Breen Foundation.

The foundation was set up to help aspiring young drivers through the rallying ranks, a cause Breen was particularly passionate about. It currently provides financial support to young drivers competing in Ireland’s J1000 Forestry Series.

The auction is set to go live from 9am [CEST] on 16 April before concluding at 9pm [CEST] on 23 April.

Items currently listed in the action range from Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak crash helmets from last year and a pair of Dani Sordo’s Hyundai WRC overalls. To take part in the auction, click here.

Hyundai has also announced that its i20 N Rally1 cars, driven by Neuville, Tanak and Andreas Mikkelsen, will be adorned with an Irish flag on the roof and bumper to pay tribute to Breen at next week’s WRC round in Croatia.

This follows a stunning tribute livery the team ran on its two cars at last year’s event.

Looking ahead to what will be an emotional rally, Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Croatia Rally is the first full tarmac event of the year, but after a milder Rallye Monte-Carlo, we have already had a taste of how the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid can perform on this surface.

Craig Breen, Hyundai World Rally Team

Craig Breen, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“We have seen success here in the past; we know both Thierry and Ott can put a car on the podium in Croatia, and with Andreas’ capabilities on tarmac, we believe he can also score good points next week.

“It is of course emotional coming to this event following the loss of Craig one year ago, but we want to honour him on our return and have tried to do so through both our charitable efforts and the addition of the Irish flag on our car.

“For both championships, and for Craig, we want to finish as close to the top step as possible – a win would be a fitting end to the weekend.”



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WRC teams pushing FIA to keep current Rally1 rules for 2025

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Multiple sources have confirmed to Motorsport.com that Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport have collectively written a letter to the FIA expressing a need for the current Rally1 technical rules to see out the original window from 2022 to the end of 2026.

In February, the FIA’s working group revealed its vision for the future of top-level rallying, including a raft of proposals incorporating changes to technical and sporting regulations, and the promotion of the category. The proposals will be voted on in June’s World Motor Sport Council meeting.

While WRC Rally1 teams have shown their unanimous support for proposed changes to the sporting side of the championship, the FIA’s plans to change the technical regulations for next year have been strongly opposed by drivers and teams.

Under the FIA’s plan, it intends to remove hybrid power from Rally1 cars and further reduce the car’s performance through a reduction in aerodynamics and air restrictor. The aim is to bring the performance more into line with Rally2 cars, which will be offered more aero and performance through an upgrade kit, to boost the overall entry lists of competitors.

Chief among the team’s concerns is the tight timeframe to enact these changes, with the proposed ratification of the regulations offering a six-month window to design, test and validate their revised cars.

Hyundai has been most vocal regarding its concerns, with team principal Cyril Abiteboul stating this week that it would not be possible for the Korean manufacturer to “do a good job” next year under this timeframe.

Abiteboul also shared frustrations that his team has had to scrap a significant investment made in upgrades to its i20 N completed in accordance with the current regulations, that would be rendered redundant next year.

Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team

Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

Asked by Motorsport.com if he had any hope the FIA would make changes to its plans for next year, before the letter was sent, he said: “We have expressed our opinion in December, in January and then February, verbally and in writing.

“At some point you have to simply deal with it and accept the governing body has made its mind and the one thing we need to understand is the aftermath of it from a competitiveness perspective.

“Hyundai is a very committed to rally and we want to be a serious competitor and we want to do what we need to do to have a competitive car against our competitors.

“We had good results in the opening rounds. We all agree that there were some favourable circumstances even if Thierry [Neuville] was remarkable in Monte Carlo.

“We know we still have a clear handicap against the Toyota and now we are facing a situation where this handicap has to remain for another two years.”

Speaking to Motorsport.com last month, Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala admitted he felt some aeras of the FIA’s vision was “too aggressive”, revealing that talks were already under way with the FIA to find a compromise.

“Ideally, taking hybrids out will make the cars slower anyway. But at the same time changing the restrictor and aerodynamics all of this at one time is a bit too much because it means you need to start optimising the engine performance for the different restrictors and you need to do testing for the aero,” he said last month.

Jari-Matti Latvala, Team principal Toyota Gazoo Racing

Jari-Matti Latvala, Team principal Toyota Gazoo Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I hope we can find a solution where we don’t do that many things immediately for next year.

“For me just taking the hybrids out would have been enough and teams wouldn’t need to do so much testing. We are limited with the testing but these days you can do simulation and you try to optimise everything that is possible.

“We have started the communication with the FIA and there are now weekly meetings going on which is really good. All of the manufacturers are on board, so I feel our chances are really good to find a compromise.”

M-Sport-Ford team principal Richard Millener also previously shared concerns over the timeframe to undertake the technical changes for next year.

“In reality, that is going to be quite tight to have new aero rules [for 2025]. Teams are going to want to test, develop and understand them. It is a lot to do in 10 months and realistically it is going to be six months by the time we get things sorted and understand what the reduction in aero means and develop, build, create parts and test,” he told Motorsport.com last month.

“There are quite high levels of sign-off for some of that required and that will be a challenge.”

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FIA’s 2025 WRC rules timeline too tight for Hyundai to do a “good job”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Hyundai boss had remained largely silent following the FIA’s reveal of a raft of proposals to improve the WRC in February.

However, the former Renault Formula 1 boss has now shared his frustrations over the proposals, which have already forced the team to scrap its investment into planned 2025 developments for its i20N Rally1 car. Abiteboul says the updates have been rendered redundant by the technical changes put forward for next year.

The technical changes proposed for next season will ensure the current Rally1 car will no longer see out its original homologation from 2022-2026. Hybrid power will be removed from car amid yet to be defined changes to aerodynamics and the air restrictor to bring the performance closer to Rally2 cars. An upgrade kit, costing around €5,000, will be made available for Rally2 competitors who wish to challenge the Rally1 cars at events in a bid to increase the top-level entry list.

The wide-ranging list of proposals, including new Rally1 regulations for 2025 and 2027, is set to be voted on by the World Motor Sport Council in June, which has left WRC teams concerned by the tight timeframe to complete the work required to be ready for next year.

“We are here but we are here to be able to win and that is as much as I can say,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

“I want to get to the bottom of these regulations, and the one thing I must say, what we need is confirmation of regulations. We are now in the time of uncertainty, and uncertainty is not good for anyone.

“One of the things we are trying to do is to build a plan in advance, which Hyundai was not very good at in the past, so for once we have a new team and technical leadership and was pushing hard to have a very well-structured technical project, and that has been brought down by a regulator’s decision.

Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team

Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“It is vital that we have very quick rules ratified by the World Motor Sport Council so that we can simply work towards these regulations. For me, the timing of June is simply not possible for us to be able to do a good job for next year.

“I’m sure, if the FIA needs a quicker decision, I’m very confident they can find ways. They must appreciate that a ratification of rules in June for a car that needs to be designed, tested and validated for January, it is not a lot of time to design, build, test and validate.

“We are talking about substantial changes to the car and the power and weight distribution and aerodynamic behaviour, and the change to the wing is not a small change. I don’t want to put a figure on it, but it is a huge change. I know we are not in Formula 1, but aero in rally still matters and we are talking about balance shifts, and we need to do a good job around it. There are guidelines but now we need rules and as quickly as possible.”

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Abiteboul also confirmed that it would be very difficult for Hyundai to salvage any of its work from its now canned project for next year. He intends to continue discussions with the FIA regarding its plans for Rally1 in 2025 and 2026.

“The changes we were contemplating were fairly vast and I suspect will be difficult to inject,” he added.

“It will be very difficult for us to carry over some of the work we have done which is the investment Hyundai has decided to make to motorsport. There is a disappointment at a sporting level but there is a frustration from a corporate perspective to have invested financial resources into a project that will not exist.

“But, again the governing body is the FIA, and I understand that at some point they need to be making some decisions.

“We have not come to that conclusion yet [on 2025 and 2026 rules] we are working and engaging with the FIA. We are still trying to get our voice heard in any of the meetings we are participating, and there are meetings, so let’s see the conclusion of that process.

“We need very swift conclusion to the process, otherwise it is going to end up in a very difficult situation for all of us.”

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Tanak has «bigger things to worry about» than WRC points deficit

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Hyundai driver was tipped among the title contenders this year, but his championship push is yet to ignite, with the Estonian without a podium after three rounds.

Tanak finished fourth overall in January’s Monte Carlo opener after a costly mistake on Friday and then crashed out of the following round in Sweden, where he salvaged only six points under super rally regulations.

Tanak was unfortunate to crash out of second position at Safari Rally Kenya last weekend when he was unable to avoid a rock lying in the middle of the road in stage six that sent his i20 N into a bank.

The 2019 world champion did however benefit from the WRC’s new points system to claim 12 points after topping Sunday’s classification and finishing second on the Power Stage.

Already 34 points adrift of championship leader, team-mate Thiery Neuville, Tanak says the most important objective is to find his form. 

 “Obviously, I have some bigger things to worry about than the points at the moment,” said Tanak.

“It seems like we really need to get our consistency back. Whatever happened on the Friday, there was really no other option to save it so there was no chance this time. In Sweden and Monte Carlo, they were clearly my mistakes which normally I shouldn’t do and haven’t done [previously].

“The target here [in Kenya] was just have a clean run with no trouble and we managed to get through without any punctures or things, but unfortunately this one rock cost us a lot.

“We want to get back on track; the championship is very young, but we need to get back into our normal rhythm.

“It was surprisingly a good points haul considering we retired [in Kenya]. That’s the new system [for you].”

Tanak will be eager to find form when the WRC heads to Croatia’s asphalt stages from 18-21 April. Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul made it clear at the start of the season that the team doesn’t have a defined number one driver this year unlike last season.

However, the former Renault Formula 1 boss confirmed that at that some point in the season the team will likely have to make the decision to support one of its title hopefuls over the other.

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Watch: Safari Rally Kenya Sunday afternoon highlights



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Neuville frustrated as WRC Safari Rally hoodoo continues

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The WRC points leader climbed to second position across Saturday morning, benefitting from punctures delaying his Toyota rivals Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.

However, Thierry Neuville’s bid for a podium was dashed when his i20 N struggled for power, and he was forced to stop on several occasions before ending the stage in EV mode.

Neuville was unable to fix the problem that Hyundai stated was related to the fuel system and ultimately lost more than 10 minutes navigating through the afternoon loop.

As a result, the Belgian dropped from second to fifth [+11m48.6s behind leader Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera], conceding a provisional seven championship points to title rival Evans, who ended the day in fourth overall, from the Saturday classification.

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Neuville cut a frustrated figure in service park given this is the fourth year in succession he has encountered problems on the Safari Rally.

“I don’t have a lot to say to be honest. Obviously, it was visible that the car wasn’t running and somehow we couldn’t solve the problems, so we continued the whole loop like this,” said Neuville.

“I’m really disappointed with the outcome when you put some much effort into that work and your preparations, and you don’t get the reward, and it is the fourth consecutive year we have been hit by trouble, it doesn’t feel very good.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“We kept fighting and we will keep fighting but obviously we gave seven points to Elfyn and five points to Ott [Tanak], so that is a lot of points we miss out.

“It is not related to Safari, it is not a Safari-related issue, which is even more frustrating.”

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul added: “Thierry’s issue in the afternoon is something we haven’t really seen before, so we need to have a look at the data and the fuel tank to understand what is going on.”

Neuville will stand to pick up eat least eight championship points if he can finish Sunday’s stages, where a further 12 points are offer under the new-for-2024 points system.

Lappi explains bizarre double bird strike

Neuville’s team-mate Esapekka Lappi also encountered a myriad of issues ranging from punctures to run ins with the local wildlife.

In the final stage of the day Lappi’s i20N was struck by two birds in separate incidents which left his windscreen smashed. The impacts forced the Finn to crawl through the Sleeping Warrior stage due to poor visibility, while Lappi also struggled with debris entering his eyes.

«The last one [stage] was going well but we had a couple of birds and they were at different locations. One was just flying and I don’t know how big it was but [co-driver] Janne [Ferm] was sure it was going to come inside,» said Lappi.

«The windscreen cracked immediately and I could live with that it was not too bad but a couple of kilometres later there was another strike and now the windscreen was really inside [the car]. I couldn’t see anything anymore and we needed to slow down a lot as it was not safe to drive.   

«I still feel something [in my eyes] so I will need to go to see medical staff to try and wash them out.»



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