WRC – Day of mixed fortunes for Hyundai Motorsport in Rally de España

Hyundai Motorsport remains in a closely fought battle for the podium positions at Rally de España, the penultimate round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), after a rain-hit Saturday on Spanish tarmac.

Thierry Neuville emerged as the highest placed Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver in fifth overall, the Belgian having made up four positions during Saturday. Alongside co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, he claimed two stage wins (SS11 and SS13) as he aims to defend his championship lead from Sébastien Ogier.

Dani Sordo started the day in competitive form, moving into the rally lead by lunchtime service. Unfortunately, the Spaniard and co-driver Carlos del Barrio struggled in tricky, muddy conditions in the repeat loop. He ended up down in sixth place but with just 16.5-seconds splitting the entire top-six.

Six of Saturday’s seven scheduled special stages were held following the early cancellation of the opening 14.12km Savalla test. The morning loop was limited to the 21.26km Querol and 24.40km El Montmell stages, but required crews to consider their tyre choices carefully in complex conditions. A full afternoon loop saw all three stages run with the addition of a 2.24km timed run through Salou to end the day’s itinerary.

As things currently stand, both drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships would remain mathematically open heading to the season finale in Australia. However, with just over 60km left to run on Sunday, Hyundai Motorsport will be aiming to complete Rally de España with a flourish to give itself the best chance of a maiden WRC title.

Crew Notes: Neuville/Gilsoul (#5 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Two stage wins helped to move the Belgians up to fifth overall
• Neuville ended Saturday just 12.7s from the rally lead

Neuville said: “It has been a very strong Saturday for us. We have had a great feeling from within the car and we have been able to really push throughout the entire day. The tyre choice this morning was not easy with the wet conditions but we had to find a compromise. It was perhaps not the fastest but we made it through. We took two stage wins this afternoon and have climbed up to fifth place overall, just 12.7 seconds from the lead. It’s really close, and anything is possible. I can say for sure that we will continue to fight hard. There’s all to play for on Sunday.”

Crew Notes: Sordo / Del Barrio (#6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Spaniards briefly held lead of their home rally
• Tricky afternoon conditions dropped them to sixth but still in reach of leaders

Sordo said: “I would summarise the day as one of two halves – a positive morning and a trickier afternoon. We had a promising Friday and we continued in that way on the opening loop today. We could set some good stage times and moved into the lead of the rally by lunchtime service. It’s always nice to lead a rally but even more so in front of our home fans. Sadly, we couldn’t maintain that pace on the muddier stages this afternoon, losing time to the leaders. However, we are still in touch and there are four stages on Sunday to get ourselves back towards the podium.”

Crew Notes: Mikkelsen/Jæger (#4 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Difficult Saturday for Norwegian crew after stage-winning Friday
• Top-ten position at end of the penultimate day

Mikkelsen said: “Not a good day for us. We didn’t really understand why we struggled to get a good feeling. It is the first time we’ve really tackled competitive stages with this car in such conditions. The afternoon loop didn’t go much better so we will have to analyse what we’ve done today to see if there’s anything we can do before the final stages on Sunday morning.”

Close encounters of the WRC kind

Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “The close gaps in this rally really show the competitive nature of the entire 2018 season. Four manufacturers inside the top-five with just 12.7 seconds between the crews – WRC continues to offer fantastic excitement and entertainment for fans. Of course, from our perspective, we would like to see our crews in the podium positions but there is every chance for that still to happen on Sunday. Thierry had a strong Saturday to move up to fifth, while Dani showed his value by leading the rally at lunchtime service. It was unfortunate for him to drop down the order but with the timings so tight, this rally looks set to go down to the Power Stage!”

Sunday at a glance

• Four tarmac stages will take place on Sunday in Rally de España totalling 61.70km
• The 16.35km Riudecanyes and 14.50km Santa Marina stages will each be run twice with the latter’s second run acting as the rally’s Power Stage where extra points are awarded to the top five drivers

Classification after Day Two

Press release Hyundai Motorsport