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Hyundai keen to get WRC era underway

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Команда "Хендэ Мотоспорт" стартует в WRC на следующей неделе с двумя моделями i20! Пожелаем новичкам успешной второй попытки!  

10 January 2014

The new Hyundai Motorsport is keen to start its participation in the World Rally Championship next week, and is optimistic of a good start in Monte Carlo. 

 It's only been just over a year since the Hyundai Motorsport team was set up, but despite having only six months of testing under their belts the team is nonetheless cautiously confident that it is ready for the rigours of Rallye Monte Carlo next week.

Rallye Monte-Carlo will therefore act as a continuation of the team’s impressive learning curve as it adapts to the WRC.

As a brand new entrant to the WRC, Rallye Monte-Carlo will mark the first appearance of the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team and the Hyundai i20 WRC in the series and will also herald the competitive debuts of Belgians Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, as well as Spaniards Dani Sordo and Marc Martí behind the wheel of their respective Hyundai i20 WRCs.

Rallye Monte-Carlo represents an enormous challenge for the nascent team being one of the trickiest and toughest rounds on the WRC calendar. Despite its inspiring achievements to date in preparing two Hyundai i20 WRC cars for competition in such a short space of time, the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team has set realistic objectives for the initial rallies of 2014: to accumulate as much mileage as possible with both cars and to gain valuable experience in competition. Each rally will mark another important step forward in the team’s ongoing development.

"This rally has been the first major target in our development schedule and finally we're there; it's a hugely significant and special moment for us all," said team principal Michel Nandan.

"Of course, the 'Monte' is a complicated and unpredictable event to start with but it's great to début on such an iconic rally. "We have established a young team of highly talented professionals at our factory for this moment," he continued. "We have two very good drivers who have given the whole team a big boost."

Thierry Neuville will take the wheel of the #7 Hyundai i20 WRC cars alongside co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, while the #8 will be helmed by Dani Sordo and his co-driver Marc Marti.

"Nicolas and I are really looking forward to embark on this new adventure with the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team and to tackle this first event with the team and the Hyundai i20 WRC," said Neuville.

"Our aim is to finish the event and get some good experience and mileage to further develop the Hyundai i20 WRC." "Marc and I are delighted to be starting this season with the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team on the team's début at Rallye Monte-Carlo," echoed Sordo.

"Even though we joined the team officially only one month ago, we already have a good feeling about the team: everyone is motivated, working hard and willing to do the best job possible."

"We all know that Thierry can achieve outstanding performance levels despite his young age, while Dani has a lot of experience in WRC and at Rallye Monte-Carlo," added Michel Nandan.

"I can definitely say that we have a very good mix! "We have not set any results targets because our first priority is to finish the rally with both cars, to learn as much as possible and to use that as a base to improve for the following events," said the team boss.

The Hyundai Shell World Rally Team prepared for the first event of the season last month with a week of testing in the French Alps with Neuville and Sordo sharing duties behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC. The Belgian and the Spaniard also completed an additional day of pre-event testing this week.

The new Alzenau-based based team will be facing off against some formidable experienced opposition in one of the most gruelling events of the year, which means the new car will certainly get a comprehensive shakedown.

A classic in the WRC calendar, Rallye Monte-Carlo celebrates its 82nd edition this year with the first being held back in 1911. This year’s edition features the return of the event to the Haute-Alpes region with an itinerary that includes 15 stages, totalling 383.88 kilometres of competitive tarmac stages run over three days. The changeable weather means the stages are incredibly treacherous making tyre choice a fundamental key to success on this event. Crews will have 40 tyres available (plus five for Shakedown) - supplied by the team’s technical partner Michelin - to choose from among four different compounds. With no Rally 2 regulations - which allow restarting after a retirement on the following day – Rallye Monte-Carlo will be an even trickier affair which requires drivers to be extremely careful as a single mistake could mean the end of the event.

Rallye Monte-Carlo gets underway on Monday, January 13 with the traditional Ceremonial Start in the Principality’s glamorous Place du Casino. However, the real action will start on Wednesday with the Shakedown followed by the first proper day of competition on Thursday.

Source: Hyundai Press; crash.net.

Ралли Монте-Карло