Ole Christian Veiby completed Rally Italia Sardegna second of the WRC 2

Hyundai Motorsport’s WRC 2 crews endured a challenging weekend at Rally Italia Sardegna, in their fifth event of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 R5.

Ole Christian Veiby finished the 16-stage event second in the WRC 2 category, equalling his best result of the season from Rally Sweden earlier in the year. Nikolay Gryazin, meanwhile, was unable to start the final day due to damage sustained during Saturday’s final loop.

Running over three days of competitive action, Rally Italia Sardegna – while being a familiar event to most crews – was held in later autumnal conditions due to the restructured 2020 calendar. Lower temperatures gave the narrow and twisty gravel stages a different characteristic, with tyre management and strategy an influential factor over the weekend.

Friday’s six stages offered a representative glimpse of what was to come with highs and lows from the outset. Veiby, alongside co-driver Jonas Andersson, picked up a WRC 2 stage win in SS2 (Erula-Tula) to take an early lead but then saw his advantage eradicated with a puncture on the subsequent run through Tempio-Pausania (SS3). He clawed back positions with another fastest time on SS4 (Erula-Tula) and second quickest through SS5 (Sedini-Castelsardo).

There was drama for Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov in SS5, as they made a mistake which took two of their tyres off the rims. With only one spare in the boot, they were forced to retire for the day.

Saturday was equally eventful as crews faced an early start with the 22.08km Monte Lerno stage (SS7) starting shortly after sunrise. It was a trouble-free run but that wasn’t to last for long as Veiby experienced another puncture on the following test (SS8 Coiluna-Loelle), while also contending with an open boot. Thankfully, the remainder of the schedule ran smoothly for the Norwegian with competitive times through the repeat loop and the afternoon’s return to Sedini-Castelsardo and Tergu-Osilo, which were both run on Friday, as he held third in WRC 2.

After a clean start to Saturday, Gryazin endured technical trouble in the final loop, damaging his radiator, which ultimately caused the engine to overheat. He brought the car back to service but was unable to resume the rally on Sunday morning, bringing an early end to a disappointing weekend for the Russian.

Veiby was involved in a close battle for second in WRC 2 on Sunday morning. He wasted no time in claiming the position on the morning’s opening stage – Cala Flumini – and then extended his advantage. Even a puncture in the Power Stage could not prevent the crew from confirming their second place result.

The final overall classification of Rally Italia Sardegna saw five Hyundai Motorsport-built cars inside the top-eight with Jari Huttunen, co-driver Mikko Lukka and Kowax 2Brally Team taking the WRC 3 win and finishing as the top R5 driver in their Hyundai i20 R5.

Crew Notes: Ole Christian Veiby/Jonas Andersson (#27 Hyundai i20 R5 ‘20)

• Two stage wins on Friday showed pace of the Hyundai i20 R5
• Punctures hampered progress on all three days

Veiby said: “What an eventful weekend! While I am satisfied with second in WRC 2, I think we deserved the win this weekend. We had targeted a victory push on the final morning but sadly that was not possible. Punctures have really been the story of our rally. We showed some promising pace at times, winning two stages in our Hyundai i20 R5, and we were able to fight back over the three days. We were in third place heading into the final morning and quickly moved into second. As the gap reduced, our hopes increased but we picked up a rear puncture in the Power Stage and could do no more.”

Crew Notes: Nikolay Gryazin/ Konstantin Aleksandrov (#26 Hyundai i20 R5 ‘20)

• Retired from the rally after radiator damage in SS10 caused the engine to overheat
• A tough weekend which also included an early finish on Friday due to tyre damage

Gryazin said: “Our pace this weekend was not as we expected it to be. We tried to find improvements on each stage but couldn’t really find a solution. It was good to gain the experience but it wasn’t the way we wanted things to go. Firstly we had a retirement on SS5 when I made a mistake which resulted in two of the tyres coming off their rims. We only had one spare so could not continue. Then, on Saturday, we damaged the radiator on SS10, which overheated the engine. We couldn’t fix the issue so had to bring the car back to service, where the team decided not to continue to avoid any further damage to the engine. A tough weekend.”

Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Andrea Adamo: “It’s a bit of a half-half result for our WRC 2 crews but we are happy for the WRC 3 win with the overall victory in R5 for Jari Huttunen, Mikko Lukka and Kowax 2Brally Team. This shows an amazing result for Hyundai Motorsport this weekend with five cars in the overall top-eight places. We continue to deliver on a job that was started years ago and we keep on pushing in this direction. Looking at the standings, I am moved and proud of my WRC and Customer Racing teams; this is something we need to print out and put on the wall as it’s a statement of the incredible job that they have done.”

Final Overall Classification WRC 2 – Rally Italia Sardegna

2020 WRC 2 Championship for Drivers’ Standings After round 6

2020 FIA WRC2 Championship for Teams’ Standings After round 6

All results remain subject to official FIA confirmation.

Press release Hyundai Motorsport