The Hyundai Motorsport team has had a successful start to the 2016 WRC by taking out third position in the 2016 Monte Carlo Rally.
Thierry Neuville managed to pilot his new generation Hyundai i20 to the bottom step of the podium despite suffering transmission problems.
To help top off a successful start to the 2016 season team his Hyundai Shell World Rally team colleague Dani Sordo managed to get his i20 home in sixth place.
Neuville commented: “That was a nerve-wracking end to our Rallye Monte-Carlo. We started to experience transmission problems before the Power Stage, which meant we were running 2WD only. It wasn’t easy but we only lost one minute of time so our podium was safe - and that was the objective all morning! We can be very pleased with our weekend. The New Generation i20 WRC has shown its potential and it is good to be back on the podium, particularly after the difficulties we had at the end of last season. To register the first stage wins and now first podium with the new car is a great feeling and this result is for the whole team.”
Dani and co-driver Marc Martí struggled in the early stages of the rally but managed to put that behind them with a string of second-place stage times on the final day.
Sordo said: “We can all be pleased with the final result. It’s great for the entire team to have two New Generation i20 WRCs in the top-six, and to see Thierry on the podium. Well done to him and Nicolas. From my point of view, the start of the weekend was not very easy and I struggled to find confidence in the car. Working with the team, we have improved the car from one loop of stages to the next and we could already see yesterday that we were heading in a good direction. I was very happy with the balance this morning and could set some good times, which have shown the performance potential of the car. We must continue working in this way but this result is a nice start to the season.”
Rounding out the Hyundai teams effort was Kiwi Hayden Paddon who successfully finished the rally for the first time.
FINAL POSITIONS: Rallye Monte Carlo
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Car |
Gap |
|
1 |
Sebastien Ogier |
Volkswagen Motorsport |
Volkswagen |
3h49m53.1s |
|
2 |
Andreas Mikkelsen |
Volkswagen Motorsport II |
Volkswagen |
+1:54.5s |
|
3 |
Thierry Neuville |
Hyundai Motorsport |
Hyundai |
+3:17.9s |
|
4 |
Mads Ostberg |
M-Sport World Rally Team |
Ford |
+4:47.7s |
|
5 |
Stephane Lefebvre |
Abu Dhabi Total WRT |
Citroen |
+7:35.6s |
|
6 |
Dani Sordo |
Hyundai Motorsport |
Hyundai |
+10:35.5s |
|
7 |
Ott Tanak |
DMACK World Rally Team |
Ford |
+11:39.9s |
|
8 |
Elfyn Evans |
M-Sport World Rally Team |
Ford |
+18:30.8s |
|
9 |
Esapekka Lappi |
Esapekka Lappi |
Skoda |
+17:14.5s |
|
10 |
Armin Kremer |
BRR Baumschlager Rallye & Racing Team |
Skoda |
+19:26.4s |
STANDINGS: Driver
|
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
|
1 |
Sebastien Ogier |
28 |
|
2 |
Andreas Mikkelsen |
19 |
|
3 |
Thierry Neuville |
15 |
|
4 |
Mads Ostberg |
12 |
|
5 |
Stephane Lefebvre |
10 |
STANDINGS: Team
|
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
|
1= |
Hyundai Motorsport |
25 |
|
1= |
Volkswagen Motorsport |
25 |
|
3 |
Volkswagen Motorsport II |
18 |
|
4 |
M-Sport World Rally Team |
12 |
|
5 |
DMack World Rally Team |
8 |
