Hyundai “nowhere close to perfection” but WRC win provides hope

The 2019 world champion ended a personal victory drought of 462 days after emerging from four gruelling days competing in scorching temperatures on Sardinia’s rough gravel roads.

Tanak’s run to a dominant victory not only marked his first visit to the top step of the podium since Arctic Rally Finland in February 2021, but was also Hyundai’s first of the new Rally1 hybrid era.

Hyundai has endured a troubled start this season hampered by late call to commit to Rally1 regulations that has left it playing catch up on car development compared to its Toyota and M-Sport-Ford rivals.

As a result, reliability issues have plagued the team this season but it has shown glimpses of pace to record podiums in Sweden, Croatia and Portugal after a woeful Monte Carlo season opener.

It has also faced internal upheaval following the departure of charismatic team principal Andrea Adamo in December last year, that has left deputy team director Julien Moncet in charge on an interim basis.

Tanak faced his own reliability scare on Friday when a transmission issues struck his i20 N but luckily an incident cancels the day’s final two stages offering him reprieve. His teammate Thierry Neuville was not so fortunes as a transmission issue cost him two minutes.

However, the Estonian feels his victory and a third for teammate Dani Sordo will lift morale in camp as help push the team to improve the i20 N.

“I think it [the win] is more a morale [boost] than championship, to be honest,” said Tanak.

“We want to fight for the championship but for that we need to have the car. We have a lot of things still to do.

“We are nowhere close to perfection for where we want to be. Still, the factory is working long hours but we needed that little pressure off.

“The job they are doing is for winning rallies. I am pretty sure it is an extra boost for them, and then we start fresh…