Hyundai Motorsport is currently working hard to adjust and find the right setup for the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars for the upcoming gravel rally in Rally de Portugal this month, which will be the first proper gravel rally for the new hybrid Rally1 cars.
Hyundai is behind in the development of the new 2022 regulations compared to the rival teams of M-Sport Ford World Rally Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing, and the testing between Croatia and Portugal will be very crucial for the Korean manufacturer to find the right things to change and improve the cars’ reliability for the upcoming gravel rallies over the summer.
The drivers in the team have admitted the team is still missing important data for the car on gravel as most of the focus have been on developing the car for asphalt rallies with the season-opener in Monte-Carlo as being the main priority and therefore they are behind the other teams.
The team is currently talking part in pre-event testings in Portugal for the upcoming rally and they have also carried out some tests in between Sweden and Croatia that took place in Southern France. With the next five rounds on the calendar being all gravel rallies with two of them being a hard challenge to conquer, the Safari Rally Kenya and Rally Finland, the team have a lot of work ahead.
Thierry Neuville was the first driver to do the first gravel tests in Portugal on Wednesday in damp conditions before the returning Spaniard Dani Sordo took over the wheel on Friday in drier conditions, it is not yet known what day Ott Tänak will be doing his tests.
In an interview with WRC.com, Hyundai Motorsport’s deputy team director Julien Moncet said; “Gravel is a big part of the season, we have worked a lot on the reliability of the car – that’s what the destruction running was about and I think we achieved the target.”
“We know we have a lot of work still to do, events like Sardinia and Safari are tough rallies which are specific and will test the car to the limit in all areas like chassis, hybrid, and transmission. Before that, we have Portugal and we have Dani [Sordo] back for this event – again this is a different type of gravel rally. We have to push in all areas for the car and the team and the crews are ready to do that.”
