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Third car strategy the main doubt over Hyundai’s 2025 WRC driver line-up

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai’s strategy for its third car is the “main question mark” regarding its 2025 World Rally Championship driver line-up, says team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

The Korean marque has fielded three i20 N Rally1s this season with two of those driven by full-time drivers in Thierry Neuville and 2019 world champion Ott Tanak, with its third car split across Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo.

Hyundai is yet to confirm its driver plans for next season with championship leader Neuville’s current deal set to expire at the end of the season, while the team has an option to extend Tanak’s contract after rejoining the squad from M-Sport this year.

Abiteboul says there is an ongoing process regarding its driver line-up for next year with the main focus on plans for the third car.

“There is an ongoing process. We are talking about next year [with Thierry], he knows the place, we know him, it is a winning pair, so why would we change it?” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

Neuville was quizzed about his future, adding: “There is no update, but I’m not too concerned anymore.”

When asked specifically about Tanak’s future, Abiteboul said: “There is an option, and we will talk about that. I think we enjoy working together, so I think an option would be something pretty natural to be exercised.”

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

But in terms of the third car, Abiteboul is keen to “explore scenarios”, having opted to run Mikkelsen largely on asphalt events this year (Monte Carlo, Croatia), with Sweden and gravel rallies, apart from Poland, split between veteran Sordo (Portugal, Sardinia) and Lappi (Sweden, Kenya, Latvia and Finland).

Lappi has scored the most points to date with 33 from four events, including 19 from winning Rally Sweden. Mikkelsen has scored 29 points while Sordo has accrued 27 from only two events.

“The main question mark for us would be the strategy on the third car,” said Abiteboul. “As for the third car I’m at a point where I want to explore scenarios. I want to be open-minded about what to do and reflect on what we did this year and assess if we have done the right thing and if it is the right thing to carry over into next year.”

Should Hyundai wish to opt for an alternative strategy and look outside its current drivers for next year, there could be various options. The team was last year linked with M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, who is enjoying his best WRC season to date, headlined by four third-place finishes.

When asked if he had started talks about his 2025 plans, Fourmaux said: “I think it is the moment where we start the discussion. First of all, I hope I will be in a Rally1 car next year.

“As a driver, you need to be talking with everybody, and if you want to be a Rally1 driver there are three teams, so you need to speak with the three teams.”

It is likely all WRC teams will be keeping an eye on WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg, who harbours a wish to return to a Rally1 car in the future following his part-time campaign with Hyundai in 2022.

“To be honest, I don’t know anything about next year. I have a lot of dreams and a lot of goals, but I have nothing yet,” said Solberg.

“Of course, I’m only 22 and the dream is to be back in a Rally1 obviously, but I don’t think about it too much. I will do my best now and can only focus on that.”



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Neuville sees Ogier as WRC title rival after Finland rollercoaster

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville sees Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier as his main title rival despite the latter yet to officially commit to the remaining rounds.

The WRC title race has a different complexion after a Rally Finland Neuville described as a «roller coaster of emotions» that has left the Belgian with a 27-point lead in the standings.

That lead is now over eight-time world champion Ogier, who is contesting a part-time campaign this year, which has yielded three wins and three second place finishes from his six rounds to date.

Ogier won last weekend’s Rally Finland claiming 24 points [18 on Saturday, five on Super Sunday and one on the Power Stage] which helped the Frenchman climb above full-timers Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Ott Tanak in the championship standings. Evans and Tanak both left Finland empty-handed after crashes and are now 36 and 31 points behind respectively.

Ogier has been asked by Toyota to drive the remaining events — Greece, Chile, Central Europe and Japan — with the Frenchman, who said he is yet to get a «feeling» for a ninth world title push, expected to make a decision in the next two weeks.

Neuville however has sights already fixed on Ogier as his title rival.

When asked who his main rival is after Finland, Neuville said: «Number two, which is Mr Ogier at the moment.

«He may not feel it [like pushing for a title] but he has been there on the last rallies and he’s fighting for every single point. For sure [I’m thinking about him].»

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: Red Bull Content Pool

Neuville’s Rally Finland had seemed like a damage limitation exercise as the Belgian struggled to find confidence behind the wheel of his i20 N.

However, shock retirements for long-time leader Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans on the penultimate stage earned Neuville 24 points, boosted by scoring eight of the 12 points available for Super Sunday.

Despite the challenges he faced with his car, Neuville felt his clever approach paid dividends in the circumstances.

«It was a pure roller coaster of emotions this weekend. We had high hopes, but somehow we realised already in shakedown that things were not working as we would like and it could be a challenging weekend, which it was,» he added.

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«The performance wasn’t great all the time, it was a bit up and down and they were challenging [wet] conditions to drive in. We understood quickly that we had to have a clever approach and focus on bringing home important points.

«Our two team-mates that crashed out on Friday gave us a lot of pressure because the team desperately needed a car in the points, but we constantly managed and changed our approach according to the situation.»



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Tanak ruled out of remaining Rally Finland WRC stages after crash

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Ott Tanak’s World Rally Championship title hopes have been dealt a further blow following confirmation that the Hyundai driver is unable to rejoin Rally Finland after Friday morning’s crash.

The 2019 world champion lost control of his i20 N in stage three [Saarikas] in slippery conditions which resulted in the vehicle rolling before colliding with a tree.

Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja managed to exit the car before officials red-flagged the stage to allow medical crews to attend the scene. While Tanak emerged from the incident unscathed, Jarveoja was taken to hospital for further examinations.

Hyundai has declared both driver and co-driver are “well”, but Jarveoja will remain in hospital overnight for observation. Therefore, the duo, who sit second in the championship standings, will retire completely from the rally and will be unable to fight for Super Sunday points.

“While competing at Rally Finland, round nine of the FIA World Rally Championship season, Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja were involved in a crash on Friday morning during SS3 Saarikas 1.” read a statement from Hyundai Motorsport.

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“Their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid slid off the road at high speed in tricky and slippery conditions just over 2km in stage. The car subsequently rolled and hit a tree. After the accident, Tanak and Järveoja exited the car themselves without assistance and the stage was immediately red flagged to allow medical services to attend the scene.

“Both Tanak and Jarveoja were quickly attended to by the medical team, with Jarveoja taken to hospital by helicopter for further examination. While both driver and co-driver are well, Jarveoja will need to remain in hospital overnight for observation as a precaution. 

“As a result, the #8 crew will not return for the remainder of the Rally Finland weekend.”

To compound Hyundai’s woes its third car found trouble in stage six, the first of the afternoon, resulting in Esapekka Lappi retiring from fourth place.

Lappi appeared to clip a tree with the right-rear corner which dragged the front into the trees. The Finn was able to limp the car off the stage and into retirement.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta will also be absent from Friday’s stages after failing to bring his GR Yaris back to the Jyvaskyla service park after damaging his right-rear suspension in an impact with a tree in stage five.

“At the beginning of the stage there was a tight corner with some trees. I managed to brake ok, but the rear snapped so I went a bit wide and I hit the tree on the exit of the corner, said Katsuta.

“The wheel nearly came off, but we managed to finish the stage. We tried to fix it to come back to service, but on the way back the wheel completely came off. so we were on three wheels, and we were not able to come back.”

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Neuville pips Katsuta to claim early lead

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


World Rally Championship points leader Thierry Neuville snatched the opening stage victory from Takamoto Katsuta to claim an early Rally Finland lead.

Neuville was the last of the Rally1 cars to tackle the Harju super special stage in host city Jyvaskyla and was able to pip Toyota’s Katsuta by 1.1 seconds on the mixed surface test.

The stage time arrived following a challenging Thursday morning shakedown at the famous gravel rally for the Belgian.

“It’s a good start, but the real stuff starts tomorrow,” said Neuville. “We are looking forward, it was a difficult shakedown for us this morning and we had some problems with the car.”

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak was third fastest, 0.2s adrift of the outright pace, while Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, making his first Finland start since 2021, was fourth quickest. Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera rounded out the top five.

“This is always a tricky stage to start the rally and it felt narrower in places — I just wanted to get it done, we are through and tomorrow the rally starts,” said Rovanpera.

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Adrien Fourmaux led M-Sport-Ford’s charge in sixth (+3.0s) ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi (+3.1s), who was lucky to avoid clipping a tyre wall with the right rear of his i20 N. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was eighth (+3.2s) ahead of Rally1 rookie Sami Pajari (+4.6s).

“Very special moment, always nice atmosphere here on the Harju stage but I am not sure how much I was enjoying it due to the conditions, 500 horsepower and the power but there we go — we are excited for tomorrow,” said Pajari.

M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster completed the top 10 (+8.2s).

WRC2 title contender Oliver Solberg led the way in the second tier posting a time 1.1s faster than Estonia’s Georg Linnamae, while Toyota WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, making a one-off outing, was third (+2.1s_ driving a Rally2-spec GR Yaris.

“That’s weird, I just took it easy, I didn’t warm my tyres enough at the start and I was way too careful on the first bit, but the second lap was decent,” said Solberg.

The rally now continues on Friday with nine gravel stages awaiting the crews.



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Neuville, Tanak free to fight for WRC title

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai has reiterated its drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak are currently free to fight for the World Rally Championship without fear of team orders, according to team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

The Korean manufacturer’s two full-time drivers Neuville and Tanak are split by eight points in the title race after last weekend’s Rally Latvia with five rounds of the season remaining.

Neuville has led the championship since winning the opening round in Monte Carlo in January although his advantage was cut significantly in Latvia after struggling while opening the road at the high-speed gravel rally.

The Belgian had taken a 15-point margin over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and 21-point lead over Tanak heading into the rally, but events in Latvia has left the top three covered by 13 points.

Abiteboul mentioned before the start of the season that his drivers would receive “absolute parity” from the team, but there would be a point in the season when an internal review would take place where team orders could be implemented.

With the title race so finely poised, Abiteboul expects his drivers to continue to fight each other for the title.

Podium: Winners Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, second place Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, third place Dani Sordo, Candido Carrera, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Podium: Winners Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, second place Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, third place Dani Sordo, Candido Carrera, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“Of course, they can fight, and they have to fight. If one of the two is not fighting, it means probably losing a position to our competition from a team perspective or in the drivers’ championship, which we have no reason to do at this point,” Abiteboul told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“I would say that we would not be shy if there is a necessity to [back one of our drivers in the future], but I don’t think that there is a necessity to right now.

“We’ve done some stuff over the weekend that maybe went under the radar. Esapekka [Lappi] let Thierry go by on Friday and played a team game and that helps. These are the sort of things that we are doing.

“But when it’s so tight, and Elfyn is very close obviously and [Sebastien] Ogier is coming back quick I don’t think there is much you can ask for at this point in the season, so we’ll keep on pushing for giving the best possible condition to these two guys and if something was to occur in the season, we would do it. But it’s obviously not the right moment.”

Although frustrated at being hampered by road position in Latvia, Neuville is refusing to let his desire to score a maiden world title drop.

“We will continue pushing. We’re still first in the championship. The next event [in Finalnd] will be very challenging as well but what can we do?” Neuville told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“Obviously I would have loved to be first on the Power Stage [in Latvia], but again, the conditions weren’t good enough and on Sunday morning I was spinning a lot of wheels, trying to push the maximum and I was using a lot of the tyres.”

Tanak’s timely haul of 22 points in Latvia despite a myriad of problems, including being delayed by an inflatable promotional arch, has brought the Estonian firmly into the title fight, which he expects will continue until the final round.

“The rally [in Latvia] has not been good. The rally has been full of entertainment, so we’ve been always fighting back,” Tanak told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“We had a wrong tyre choice in the first stage and then after we struggled with the car, and then we lost the brakes. It’s always been a hard fight, but then Sunday went in our favour [scoring the maximum 12 points].

“We are just playing, and this [title fight] will go until the end of the year so we will see.”

Hyundai also leads the manufacturers’ championship by a point from Toyota heading in Finland next month.

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Hyundai calls for investigation into bizarre Tanak arch incident

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai has called for a “clear and transparent” investigation to understand why its World Rally Championship driver Ott Tanak was delayed by a fallen inflatable promotional arch at Rally Latvia.

Stage 14 provided one of the strangest incidents of the season when a promotional arch halted fourth-placed Tanak.

Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja collected the arch that was lying across the road after Toyota’s Elfyn Evans clipped the inflatable structure following a wild moment during his pass, which caused the arch to deflate and collapse.

The stage wasn’t red-flagged before Tanak arrived on the scene, and as a result, his i20 became entangled in the arch. The stage was eventually halted to clear the incident while Tanak, Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux were issued nominal times, having been caught up in the red flag aftermath.

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A frustrated Tanak took aim at race control for not stopping the stage sooner.

“I think this exactly describes how we are in safe hands in terms of race control. Probably they were having a nice meal and good wine when on the cameras you could see the road is blocked and there is a car coming. Well done race control, you are really taking care of us,» said Tanak on the television broadcast.

“We are ok but f****** hell, you could see the road was blocked and you keep it running. Hopefully, it was a good wine.”

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Event organisers have since issued the following statement to explain what happened: “Car number 33 [Elfyn Evans] left the stage, damaging the supports of an inflatable branding arch towards the end of SS14 on Saturday afternoon at Tet Rally Latvia.

“It was clear there was damage to the arch and two staff, positioned specifically to ensure the safety of the arch moved immediately to remove it from the road. They were not able to do this prior to the arrival of car number 8 [Ott Tanak].”

While the incident ultimately didn’t affect the leaderboard, Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul wants answers to ensure this incident isn’t repeated in the future.

“What’s bizarre is the time it took for anyone who is responsible for monitoring the situation and assessing what to do,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

“We are in a world of extreme connectivity, extreme agility, and I think that we should make sure that we have the devices that are needed in order to red flag when there is something that is totally blocking the road. They [Ott and Martin] had absolutely no escape, nowhere to go.

“The FIA has reached out [to us] and I think we really need to get a proper investigation of what has happened and what is the existing system.

“Was the system in default because of the plane situation [the WRC’s TV relay aircraft was grounded in the afternoon due to a technical issue]? But if that’s the case, there should be contingency measures.

“I would call for, simply, a clear and transparent investigation about the steps that will be taken to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the future, because it’s very clear that there was enough time to red flag the stage.”

When asked if he felt Tanak would receive a penalty for his comments directed at race control, Abiteboul added: “I hope that common sense will prevail rather than spending time about a penalty. We should spend more resources and time and effort in understanding how it can happen or how it could be avoided in the future.”



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Why Neuville believes WRC Rally Latvia could be his “most challenging”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The World Rally Championship’s inaugural visit to Latvia is poised to be the most challenging of the season to date for points leader Thierry Neuville.

The Hyundai driver heads to Latvia’s high-speed gravel stages with a 15-point lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, but believes he’ll have a battle on his hands to maintain his advantage due to several factors.

The Baltic nation’s 20 stages are largely unknown by everyone, creating a level playing field, although Neuville will have the disadvantage of being the first to tackle them, virtue of his road position.

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While the Belgian has carried this burden since the opening round of the championship, he feels this weekend it will have the most significant effect. Unlike other rallies where loops of stages are repeated, providing cleaner conditions for the second pass, five of Friday’s eight stages will be only run once.

Coupled with the absence of a midday service to make changes to his i20 N and a lack of testing before the event, this has left Neuville to fear the worst.

“I mean it could be the most challenging if you consider that we have never been here and we discover the surface of the roads, and the fact we have had no real testing for that event,” Neuville told Motorsport.com.

“There are mainly first-pass stages on Friday, there’s lots of cleaning and additionally to that again there is no midday service. So, if you go with the wrong set-up now you basically stick with it for the whole day, so this makes it really challenging.”

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

Neuville has already found the limits during Thursday morning’s shakedown, when he was fortunate to survive a wild venture into a ditch.

“Obviously, it is really slippery. We went out there to see where the limits are, and I think I found them,” he smiled.

The shakedown highlighted another concern for crews in the form of the wooden pole serving as anti-cut devices, placed on certain corners. Some of those had been removed while drivers felt organisers had deployed too many and positioned them too close to the edge of the road.

“Obviously, it’s disturbing, for sure. I mean, sometimes there are three or four in one corner,” Neuville added.

“If the first two are missing, you are tempted to go into the corner, and suddenly you end up in the corner with two poles in the middle of the road, so it’s a bit of a concern, but generally speaking, I guess that the organiser will do the job to make sure that they are in place every time.”

Neuville’s nearest title rival, Evans, added: “It’s not very natural, the character of the stage and it’s not very nice to drive.

“When they [the anti-cut devices] are not where you expect them to be, [that] is the issue because you start to open up a whole can of worms where the inside of corners haven’t been checked.

“We will have to wait to see how it plays out, but I don’t think it’s ideal.”

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux echoed Evans’ thoughts and went as far to say it was a “nightmare” situation in shakedown.

“The wooden poles are a bit of a nightmare. They change too much the angle of the corners, and we study this a lot,” he said.

“Then when somebody cuts the corner [and the posts are gone] we then start to cut in some places that have not been checked, there could be rocks or something. The poles are placed too much on the road and not in the cut.”



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Tanak unharmed after high-speed crash at Rally Estonia

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO



World Rally Championship title contender Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja have escaped unharmed from a high-speed crash at Rally Estonia.

The pair were driving a WRC-specification Hyundai i20 Rally1 car in the national class of the event, which this weekend is hosting the fourth round of the European Rally Championship. The rally offered a chance for Tanak and Jarveoja to log some extra mileage ahead of WRC rounds on fast gravel in Latvia and Finland.

A video on social media has captured Tanak losing control of his i20 N at high speed during the Raanitsa stage, which pitched the car into a roll before it appeared to come to rest in a ditch.

 

Images of the car have confirmed the i20 N suffered heavy damage and will be unable to be repaired to continue competing in Estonia.

Tanak and Jarveoja were taken to hospital in the rally’s host city, Tartu, for medical checks. The 2019 world champion declared on social media that he and Martin were ok.

“While participating here at Rally Estonia we had an accident on today’s first stage SS2 Raanitsa,” read a post on Tanak’s social media.

“Due to the nature of the crash, we’ve been taken for medical checks at the hospital in Tartu. Both myself and Martin are feeling well and we’re ok.

“Unfortunately, it will not be possible to participate further on Rally Estonia due to the amount of work needed to repair the car.” 

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The accident continued a run of misfortune for Tanak after crashing out of stage two at last weekend’s Rally Poland when he was unable to avoid a collision with a deer that had jumped out into the road.

Hyundai is set to compete in another national rally next week with Esapekka Lappi entering the Lietuva Rally in Lithuania to prepare for his WRC return in Latvia later this month.



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Neuville wants more Hyundai WRC seat time to prepare for Latvia, Finland

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


World Rally Championship points leader Thierry Neuville is keen for a national rally outing or extra seat time to help prepare for upcoming fast gravel rallies in Latvia and Finland.

Neuville revealed his desire for more time behind the wheel of his Rally1 i20 N after his points lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans decreased from 18 to 15 points during a frustrating Rally Poland last week. 

The Belgian has previously found fast gravel rallies difficult, but last year made significant progress on those types of roads, highlighted by second-place finishes in Estonia and Finland.

However, Neuville admitted that he struggled with new engine mapping on his i20 N in Poland on top of the disadvantage of starting first on the road. As a result, he finished fourth overall, picking up 14 points.

«On Saturday I missed two extra points by one tenth [to Rally1 debutant Martins Sesks] and on Sunday I missed an extra point by three tenths [to Evans], so it is really frustrating,» Neuville told Motorsport.com after collecting six points on Saturday, three on Sunday and five in the Power Stage.

«We came here with new engine maps, and I didn’t feel comfortable since the beginning with it, so I lost some time.

«And I was cleaning the road, so a lot of things came together basically.»

With testing restricted to 21 days per manufacturer across a year, Neuville is seeking opportunities for more outings behind the wheel.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

The testing limit set by the FIA is designed to cut costs, but teams have circumvented the restrictions by fielding cars into national rallies outside of the WRC calendar.

Hyundai has already taken this approach this season when Andreas Mikkelsen contested an asphalt rally in Alba, Italy in April, while Ott Tanak is set to drive the i20 N Rally1 in an invitational class at Rally Estonia next week.

«I would like to [do a private rally], and I will definitely ask my team for an opportunity to drive before the next rally,» added Neuville.

«My last time testing in Finland [at Hyundai’s test base] was on snow in February. The second last test was cancelled and the other one, was only for Andreas and Ott.

«I definitely need more seating time on those fast roads.»

Hyundai’s WRC programme manager Christian Loriaux says the team will look into Neuville’s request.

«It is not in the plan at the moment, but there is always a chance, but we will have to look into it,» he told Motorsport.com

«Budgets are not infinity, and we need time and the test car available. But for sure it is not to be excluded.»

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