Hyundai Motorsport will be heading to Rallye Deutschland on the site of their first World Rally Championship win with Thierry Neuville in 2014.
Hyundai are on home turf in Trier as their headquarters are located two hours away in Alzenau, Germany. The team missed out on a potential podium position last time out in Rally Finland as Neuville was 4.6 seconds from the podium, but the Belgian had to settle for fourth place.
The team have tested on the asphalt of Germany with their three-phase test on the Baumholder military ranges in July to work on making sure the New Generation i20 is ready for the toughest asphalt round of the 2016 World Rally Championship season.
Neuville who is in a rich vein of form after previous results in Finland and Poland. He said “Rallye Deutschland is the highlight of the season for me. It’s like my home rally, very close to the Belgian border and a lot of supporters come down with lots of Belgian flags. So it’s the rally we are most waiting for in the season, and it’s an event we have always been competitive at. We got our first victory there so I am looking forward to it.”
Credit: Hyundai Motorsport
Spain’s Dani Sordo returns to Rallye Deutschland after missing Rally Finland due to a fractured vertebra. The Spaniard is ready to tackle the asphalt of Germany, saying “We are really pleased to be back in the car at one of our favourite events. It’s a very challenging rally, very fast with lots of different characteristics. It’s exciting to drive in the vineyards, fast but very narrow with lots of hairpins and corners. The military ranges are very tricky, particularly in the wet, so it’s important not to make mistakes. We have gone well here in the past and we are looking for a strong result.”
New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon is in fine form after previous results in Finland and Poland. Paddon admits that tarmac is not his preferred surface, adding “It’s going to be a bit foreign. It seems like a long time since we were doing a tarmac rally. It’s not my preferred surface but it’s one that I have to learn. I get to use it as an opportunity to improve on where we left off from last year. Germany is a very unique rally in the vineyards, the army range and also some public roads as well. It’s sort of three tarmac rallies in one, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
