Thierry Neuville finished Friday’s stages just two seconds from leader Sébastien Ogier

Hyundai Motorsport has emerged as a strong contender for victory in the opening round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rallye Monte-Carlo, with all three of its crews inside the top-five after eight of sixteen special stages.

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul lead the team’s charge in second overall, just two seconds from Citroën’s Sébastien Ogier. Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger-Amland hold a provisional podium position in third overall, while Hyundai Motorsport newcomers Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are fifth.

A total of five of Friday’s planned six stages were run, after the opening Valdrome-Sigottier test was cancelled on grounds of fan safety. Crews covered over 100km of competitive distance, negotiating new routes in tricky conditions that have put an emphasis on tyre strategy. 

Holding third place overnight, Neuville moved into the lead of the rally after setting the second fastest time in SS4 (Roussieux-Laborel 24.05km). A further second place in SS5 (Curbans-Piegut 18.47km) allowed him to head into lunchtime service with a slender 3.4-second advantage. The Belgian #11 crew lost almost 20s of time at the start of the repeat loop after being forced to take an escape route early in SS6. However, they fought back valiantly with a clever drive to slash the deficit to Ogier to two seconds at the rally’s halfway point.

Mikkelsen set a competitive pace throughout the day to climb up the classification to third overall. Loeb, meanwhile, made the most of his tyre choice to take two stage wins and become embroiled in a close battle for fourth place.

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (#11 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Intelligent drive from the Belgians to remain in the victory hunt
• SS8 stage win reduced gap to rally leader Ogier to two seconds heading into Saturday

Neuville said: “What a day! We had a good morning loop. The first stage was cancelled but we made the right tyre choice, and could catch some time back. Everything worked well: I was happy with my driving, the pace notes were really good and I was confident in the car. Tyre choice has been key all day, as is to be expected at this rally. The start of the afternoon loop didn’t go as planned, as we approached a corner too fast and had to use the escape road. We lost around 19 seconds of time, which was frustrating because that mistake cost us the chance to hold the lead. We kept pushing hard and finished the day with a stage win to reduce the gap to Ogier. It certainly makes for an exciting rally! Thanks to our gravel crew for a great job today, which has allowed us to attack with full confidence. There’s still room for improvement.” 

Crew Notes: Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger-Amland (#89 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Positive Friday for the Norwegians, regularly fighting in the top-four
• Consistent performance allowed the #89 crew to move into a provisional podium position

Mikkelsen said: “I am pleased to be in the provisional podium positions after another tough day. It is easy to make mistakes in these conditions so I am pleased to have had a clean and relatively competitive day. Tyre choice has been tough for everyone. We were helped with the cancelled stage first thing this morning but in the end things turned out well. In the afternoon, it was hard to tell where we would compare with so many tyre variations being deployed. It’s a bit of cat and mouse in this rally, where you have to work out where you can find the advantage, or minimise the disadvantage. I think we’ve done that well today. We’re only halfway through the stages, so there’s a lot of hard work still ahead of us.”

Crew Notes: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (#19 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Two stage wins on first complete day in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
• Led Hyundai Motorsport 1-2 in SS4 and holds fifth overall

Loeb said: “It has been good to secure my first stage wins in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. It’s not so easy to win stages in the World Rally Championship so this is a nice feeling. We’ve had a pretty good day overall. We are at least still in the game, even if it’s not for the victory. In the opening loop, we opted for slick tyres, so we were helped by the first stage being cancelled. In the afternoon, it was a similar situation where we knew we would lose time on the first stage but then gained back in the others. The feeling in the car has been encouraging so we aim to continue with this rhythm on Saturday.”

Team Director Andrea Adamo: “It has been a positive Friday for our team. Everyone has worked very well to cope with the demanding conditions that Rallye Monte-Carlo produces. We have tried to cover our bases with a selection of tyre choices across the three crews; all drivers and co-drivers have performed very strongly and intelligently. To take stage wins against such a competitive line-up, and when dealing with complex strategies, is highly motivating. At the same time, we know there is a long way to go, and plenty of potential pitfalls we still have to navigate. With all three Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC cars inside the top-five, we are in a promising place from where we can hopefully continue to fight on Saturday.” 

Saturday at a glance

• More familiar routes await the crews on Saturday with two runs apiece through Agnieres en Devoluy-Corps (29.82km) and St Leger les Melezes – La Batie Neuve (16.87km).
• A shorter stage distance than Friday will see crews tackle 93.38km of timed routes with a mid-afternoon finish back at the Gap service park.

Classification after Day Two

Press release Hyundai Motorsport