Hyundai Motorsport is entering its second season in the highly competitive FIA World Rally Championship in high spirits following a competitive and valuable learning year in 2014.
The team secured an historic 1-2 and two further podium finishes in its debut season, establishing itself as a genuine contender in the tough WRC environment. The Hyundai Motorsport Team now wants to put all that experience into practice for 2015 and to demonstrate further improvements in each round of the 13-event Championship.
“Our objective for this coming season is to use all the experience, learning and data gathered in our debut season to make improvements in terms of our operation at each rally, and our comparative performance levels,” explains Team Principal Michel Nandan.
The team has not been afraid of doing its learning in the tough and very public domain of world rallies, but its second season of competition will be a year of consolidation for the team as it continues on its upward trajectory.
“The competition in WRC is fierce,” continues Nandan, “and we are up against more established and experience teams, so our learning is never over. We need to raise our game a bit more to get closer to the leading competitors. We have a lot of work to do but we are in WRC to win rallies, so we are pushing ourselves to the maximum of our ability at all times.”
The 120-strong team of staff at Hyundai Motorsport’s factory in Alzenau, Germany spent 2014 developing the Hyundai i20 WRC with feedback and data accumulated at each new round of the WRC season. The car was continually developed with jokers used at key moments during the year to introduce upgrades on both chassis and engine.
The presence of the team in the World Rally Championship created a positive buzz in the global Hyundai family, which has resulted in a number of Hyundai affiliates coming on board for 2015. Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Steel and Hyundai WIA will be supporting the team as official partners this season with their logos appearing on the livery of the i20 WRC. The Hyundai i20 WRC that will start the 2015 season will be a substantially developed version of the car that started Monte Carlo in 2014, utilising the lessons learned by the team in its first year of competition.
“We have one full season of experience in the car,” says Nandan, “and we will continue to evolve it this year. We are currently planning to introduce some engine upgrades in the first part of the season as well as some other components which we tested over the winter, which we hope will give us additional performance gains. At the same time, we will be working on the next Hyundai WRC car, based on the New Generation i20 Coupe. We have had a lot
of support from Hyundai around the world following our inaugural season and it is a pleasure to welcome Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Steel and Hyundai WIA as official partners of the team in 2015.”
The Hyundai Shell World Rally Team will field two Hyundai i20 WRCs at each round of the 2015 Championship. Belgians Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, who took the team’s maiden WRC win in Germany, will take the wheel of the #7 car once again, while Spaniards Dani Sordo and Marc Martí are now confirmed to drive the #8 car in all 13 scheduled events. The team will also field a third Hyundai i20 WRC from the second round of the season, Rally Sweden, with Kiwi star Hayden Paddon on driving duties with car #20 until Wales Rally GB.
Hyundai Motorsport has also signed Dutchman Kevin Abbring as its official Test Driver for the 2015 season. Abbring has taken part in 24 WRC events in his career to date and last year finished runner-up in the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). Abbring will take part in a number of official tests for the team this season, working closely with the
engineers and the full time rally drivers and will also contest some WRC rounds with the team.
Neuville said: “I am delighted to be a Hyundai Shell World Rally Team driver for a second consecutive season and I’m looking forward to continuing our progress. We had a very positive 2014 season with a win and several podiums but our focus is on showing constant improvements in every area of the team operation.We have a great bunch of people involved in this programme, a great car in the Hyundai i20 WRC and the right mentality, which I am sure will deliver us results.”
Sordo said: “2015 will be an important season for me and for the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team. We showed last year what we are capable of when everything goes well, so we have to take all of that experience and deliver improvements at each rally. I took part in half of the rallies last season so I am definitely pleased to have more time in the car and more events this year.”
Paddon commented: “It’s fantastic to remain part of the Hyundai Motorsport in 2015. The team has shown great faith in me and I was proud to play a part in an historic first season. With a more comprehensive programme this year, starting from Sweden, I am aiming to make further progress and deliver the results I know we are capable of.”
Abbring said: “I am thrilled to be joining the Hyundai Motorsport driver line-up in 2015 in the role of test driver. I watched the team’s debut season in WRC with interest and they really surpassed everyone’s expectations. I look forward to making a contribution to the ongoing development of the car and working with a very talented team of people.”
“We believe we have one of the strongest, most versatile driver line-ups in WRC,” explains Michel Nandan. “We have the perfect mix of experience with Thierry and Dani, as well as promising youth and hunger with Hayden. We have also added Kevin into our driver roster. He is an exciting talent and I think he will bring a new dynamic to our test programme.”
Rallye Monte-Carlo represented a baptism of fire for the Hyundai Motorsport twelve months ago but it was the start of an impressive debut season, which has established the team as ones to watch in 2015.
Press release Hyundai Motorsport
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