WRC – Hyundai Motorsport has endured a frustrating start to Rally Australia

Hyundai Motorsport’s championship hopes took a knock on the opening day of Rally Australia, the final round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, with Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen both experiencing dramas.

Friday’s itinerary covered a repeated loop of three stages (Orara East 8.77km, Coldwater 14.12km and Sherwood 26.68km) followed by two runs through the 1.27km Destination NSW super special stage to conclude the day.

Hayden Paddon leads the Hyundai charge in fourth place overall, just 12.5-seconds from rally leader Mads Østberg following a competitive opening start for the New Zealander. 

Neuville ended the day in tenth place, having lost significant time after a tyre came off its rim on landing after a jump in SS6 (Sherwood II). The Belgian, who holds a three-point deficit to Sébastien Ogier in the drivers’ title chase, had claimed the upper hand by winning the preceding stage (SS5 Coldwater II) but ended Friday over 30 seconds behind his title rival.

Mikkelsen’s day was over before the end of the morning loop following an unusual situation in which he had to take evasive action to avoid a tractor after a chicane during SS3 (Sherwood I). The distraction caused the Norwegian to go off the road, causing a terminal water leak in his i20 Coupe WRC. The crew will re-join under Rally 2 on Saturday.

With both drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles still up for grabs heading into the season finale, Hyundai Motorsport required a strong start to the rally, which it won twelve months ago. Instead, it was a day of unwanted and unwarranted drama for the team who now have an uphill battle to secure a maiden WRC title this weekend.

Crew Notes: Paddon / Marshall (#6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Leading Hyundai Motorsport crew with competitive and consistent Friday loops
• Small gap to rally leader puts the Kiwi in podium contention

Paddon said: “We have had a nice clean day and find ourselves involved in a close fight at the front. The feeling inside the car has been pretty good on all stages. I have spent Friday just trying to get the natural rhythm back, learning to push in the car and gaining confidence. Our approach was right. We had an issue midway through the afternoon when a tyre came off the rim; we were forced to use a worn soft tyre for the second run through Sherwood. I was surprised not to lose more time than we did. We can definitely go faster, and we have to keep pushing for the team. There’s no other option.”

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

• Stage win in SS5 bolstered Belgians’ upper hand over Ogier 
• Subsequent heavy landing in SS6 jump caused the tyre to come off its rim

Neuville said: “We can’t lose our hopes despite what’s happened. It’s still only the first day and although our championship chances are now reduced, we don’t know what’s going to happen over the next two days. It had been going quite well. Even from second on the road this morning, the cleaning was huge and our aim was just to stay in front of Sébastien, which we were able to do. A stage win in the afternoon was nice but then, in SS6, we were on a long right-hander with a few bumps, and on the landing of a jump we took the tyre from the rim, which lost us a lot of time. We will continue to drive and see where we end up on Sunday.”

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

• Solid start to Rally Australia with fourth fastest time in opening stage
• Forced to retire in SS3 but will re-join under Rally 2 on Saturday

Mikkelsen said: “What happened today pretty much sums up my season, to be honest. We approached a crest and saw a marshal waving us down. Anders told me to stop so I slowed right down and saw a tractor driving out of the chicane. We kept going but my head was in a different place rather than the pace-notes that were coming up and we went off. I am disappointed and angry. This situation has destroyed a really important rally for us, and it should never have happened. It’s a shame because we were feeling comfortable and doing well up to that point. We will be back on Saturday but there’s not much we can do now.”

Chances dented, hopes intact

Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “Starting with the positives, Hayden has had a good start to this rally. Making the most of his starting position, he had a good tyre choice in the second loop and ended Friday just a few seconds from the podium. I think we’ll see even more from him as this rally progresses. The situation with Andreas was unusual; it’s not what you expect to see during a stage and not the sort of thing you want to dictate your weekend when trying to fight for world title. He will return under Rally 2 on Saturday. The worst thing for us today was Thierry’s issues on the second pass. He was doing everything he needed to up to that point but losing the tyre off the rim in Sherwood, he lost 40 seconds to Sébastien in total and is now 30 seconds behind him. Thierry will be starting first on the road on Saturday, which will make his life even trickier. A lot has happened today but we have two long days yet to contest.”

Saturday at a glance

• With 133km of competitive stages, Saturday is the longest day of Rally Australia
• A loop of four stages – Argents Hill Reverse (13.13km), Welshs Creek Reverse (28.83km), Urunga (21.28km) and Raleigh (1.99km) – will be run twice, separated by lunchtime service at Coffs Harbour
• Two more runs through the Destination NSW super special will conclude the day’s itinerary before 84km of stages are run on Sunday.

Classification after Day One

Press release Hyundai Motorsport