Breakthrough WRC Rally1 victory a “great relief” for Hyundai

The South Korean marque has been beset by challenges that stem from being the last of the three manufacturers to commit to the new hybrid regulations, delaying the development of its new i20 N.

In December last year it’s long-time team principal Andrea Adamo left the company, citing personal reasons, which left Moncet to take control of the team on an interim basis.

Hyundai has been constantly playing catch up with the development of its car, and has been hit by several reliability issues during the first four events of the season.

The scale of the problem was evident at the Monte Carlo season opener when Thierry Neuville suffered damper and hybrid issues, Ott Tanak crashed out, and Oliver Solberg was forced to withdraw after inhaling exhaust fumes that had entered his cockpit.

Since then the team has steadily improved the pace of its car, scoring podiums in Sweden (second), Croatia (second and third) and Portugal (third) but reliability issues have remained.

These problems again emerged in Sardinia this weekend as Neuville and Tanak suffered transmission issues. But the cancellation of Friday’s final two stages limited the damage as the team was able repair the issue on Tanak’s car to keep the 2019 world champion in contention.

After main rival Esapekka Lappi crashed his Toyota out, Tanak was then able to score his first win since February 2021, while teammate Dani Sordo secured a double podium in third.

“For sure, it is great relief for the whole team,” Moncet told Motorsport.com when reflecting on Hyundai’s first WRC win since Spain last October.

“We have pushed really hard and we know we had a difficult start to the season, since then we have pushed very hard.

“Every time it was difficult, we were close but not close enough. We had a lot of issues in terms of reliability and so on.

“It is really welcome for the team and the drivers it is nice to get some motivation back.

“We know there is a lot of work to do and this is clear. We have to…