Hyundai Motorsport WRC Preview: Rallye Monte-Carlo
- Hyundai Motorsport aims for a fast start to the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with its sights set on a maiden Monte-Carlo victory
- Three Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC cars will join the intense fight for glory between WRC’s manufacturers at the season-opener
- Competing under the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team banner, the squad aims to build on its second place in the 2017 championship for its fifth year of WRC competition.
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The 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) gets underway next weekend with the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, the first of 13 events on this year’s WRC calendar.
Hyundai Motorsport has outlined clear ambitions to compete for both drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship titles this year, having mounted a strong challenge throughout 2017. Yet, with rivals M-Sport, Toyota and Citroën all gunning for glory, another fierce battle among the manufacturers is on the cards.
The team’s 2018 challenger - an upgraded specification of its multiple rally-winning Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC - made its public debut alongside all WRC machinery at the official season launch in Birmingham, UK last week.
The team’s 2018 challenger - an upgraded specification of its multiple rally-winning Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC - made its public debut alongside all WRC machinery at the official season launch in Birmingham, UK last week.
Triple threat
Competing under the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team banner for 2018, a trio of crews will represent Hyundai Motorsport at Rallye Monte-Carlo. Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger will tackle the 17-stage rally in the #4 car, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul will aim for victory in the #5, while Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio will run the #6.
Neuville memorably led at Monte-Carlo twelve months ago, putting in an eye-catching performance until a premature retirement on the penultimate afternoon. The Belgian went on to dominate the Power Stage to take the maximum five points as consolation.
A tested development
The 2018-specification Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC has undertaken a thorough development programme over the winter. Three days of testing were held north of Nice, France in mid-December, followed by a three days closer to Gap in the New Year.
The team then travelled to Spain for a solitary day of evaluation in a range of conditions. All three crews competing in Monte Carlo had the chance to get acquainted with the car on dry and wet tarmac, as well as on snow and ice. It proved a useful opportunity to replicate the various scenarios that might occur on the Monte stages.
We are as well prepared for this new season as we can be with renewed ambitions for the championship. The performance of our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in the final rounds of last season, especially winning in Australia, gave us a good springboard for winter development. We have taken the car and crews to France and Spain for seven days of testing in the past month, in an effort to replicate conditions that we expect in Monte. The beauty of this opening event is its unpredictability, so we have to be prepared for anything. Autosport International brought together all the manufacturer teams for a unique event, one that perfectly showcases the WRC’s community spirit. We know our rivals will be formidable and relentless, so we have to be on top of our game at all times. Bring on round one – let’s hope it’s another classic Monte.
Bite-size Monte-Carlo
- From Casino Square to Col de Turini, Rallye Monte-Carlo is packed full of spectacular, yet unforgiving stages, that put cars and crews to the ultimate test
- Run over a total distance of 388.59km, it is one of the longest events on the calendar and is held over four days and 17 stages of competitive action.
- The night tests on Thursday take place close to midnight and require cars to be fitted with additional light pods – giving an aggressive look to the machinery.
- Friday covers the most distance on any individual day – almost 145km of special stages with some new challenges for 2018. Almost 50% of the route will differ to last year’s event.
- Tyre strategy often plays a decisive role with conditions known to vary dramatically from one stage to the next – and even within a stage.
- As always, the Service Park in Gap will be a hive of activity at the end of each day as teams work tirelessly to keep the cars in peak performance: the ideal way to get a new WRC season off to a flying start.
Contacts
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Florian Büngener
Head of Department PR & Communications
fbuengener@hyundai-europe.com LinkedIn ProfileAdriana Cerami
Head of Section Corporate & Brand PR
acerami@hyundai-europe.comKatharina Kupper
Hyundai Newsroom Lead
kkupper@hyundai-europe.comAnja Wente
Product PR & Communications Expert
awente@hyundai-europe.comElvira Herrera
Corporate Communications Expert
eherrera@hyundai-europe.comÁngel Pino Pérez
Product Communications Professional
apinoperez@hyundai-europe.comMaria Bricio
Corporate & Brand Communications Expert
