- Thierry Neuville picks up third career victory for Hyundai Motorsport with faultless performance, winning with a 55-second margin over Sébastien Ogier.
- Dani Sordo misses second place by 1,3 seconds but claims 1st podium of the season. Hayden Paddon takes 6th as all three Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCs finish rally.
Hyundai Motorsport has claimed its maiden victory of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) when Thierry Neuville won the Tour de Corse on the French island Corsica in his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
Dani Sordo made it a rally to celebrate for the team, picking up his first podium of 2017 with third place, missing out on second position by just 1,3 seconds. The result represents the fourth WRC victory in total for Hyundai Motorsport, and the team’s fifth double podium result.
Hayden Paddon finished sixth as all three Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews finished the grueling Rallye de France on the island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Starting Sunday morning with a seemingly comfortable lead of 39 seconds, Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul set about securing their advantage over second-placed Sébastien Ogier in his Ford Fiesta.
Tackling the monster 53,78 km Antisanti-Poggio di Nazza, the longest stage of the rally on the narrow and winding mountainside roads, the Belgians claimed their fourth stage win of the weekend.
As Ogier hit trouble in SS9, Sordo and co-driver Marc Martí took second place in the stage and moved up behind their team-mates on the overall classification. Just 2,5s separated the Spaniards from the third placed M-Sport crew heading into the Power Stage. In a thrilling finale, it was Ogier who reclaimed second, leaving the Spanish crew to be content with the third spot.
Sordo added two extra points for finishing fourth in the Power Stage, while Neuville maintained his consecutive run of Power Stage points with fifth place.
With four different winners in the opening four rounds of the 2017 WRC season, the championship fight is well and truly open. With its 1-3 in Corsica, Hyundai Motorsport has moved up to second place in the manufacturers’ standings, closing the gap to the leaders to 24 points. Neuville moves up into third on the drivers’ classification with 26 points scored this weekend.
“It’s an amazing feeling to take the win here in Corsica this weekend. I am sure there are many people who share in this celebration with us, not least the whole of the Hyundai Motorsport team. They have been so supportive of me since Monte Carlo and Sweden, and I’m really happy. With Dani finishing third, we’ve picked up a healthy score of points which helps to get us back firmly into the title fight,” said Neuville.
Sordo said: “We knew it would be hard to hold onto second place after we inherited it from Sébastien in the first stage this morning. We pushed as hard as we could and I am still very happy we have finished on the podium this weekend. It has been a strange event and almost a lottery at times with our feeling in the car not matching the times set on the stages. Our target for today was to defend our third place, which we did, so from that point of view it is mission accomplished.”
The Tour de Corse has not been an easy weekend for Paddon and his co-driver, John Kennard, as the Kiwi duo struggled for consistent pace over the ten stages. Despite making headway in their performance on Corsican tarmac compared to last year’s round, the crew had to settle for sixth place.
“Our focus on this final morning was simply on bringing the car home and scoring a few more points,” said Paddon. “It’s been a learning weekend for us, but we have to find the positives. Even if the result doesn’t show it, we have been competing closer to the front this weekend and shown an improvement from last year’s Tour de Corse.”
For Hyundai Motorsport, the result has been a long time coming after the competitive performances shown by the team’s Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC cars so far this season. The team now has 24 stage wins so far in 2017 and becomes the fourth different manufacturer to be victorious in as many events.
Hyundai Motorsport team principal Michel Nandan commented: “I’m overjoyed that we finally have a result we’ve been working so hard to achieve this season. I hope it’s the first of many, many more to come this year. Thierry and Nicolas have had a great weekend, showing their resilience after a tricky start on Friday. Scoring four stage wins and demonstrating their resolve while others hit trouble allowed them to really hit their stride. They thoroughly deserve this and makes up for the misfortune in Monte-Carlo and Sweden.”
The 2017 FIA World Rally Championship heads back overseas later this month for round 5, Rally Argentina, where the Hyundai Motorsport team was triumphant twelve months ago. The 18-stage gravel rally will take place from 27 to 30 April.
Final Overall Classification -Tour de Corse:
1. T. Neuville/N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:22:53.4
2. S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC +54.7
3. D. Sordo/M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +56.0
4. J.M. Latvala/M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +1:09.6
5. C. Breen/S. Martin Citroën C3 WRC +1:09.7
6. H. Paddon/J. Kennard Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +2:16.3
7. A. Mikkelsen/A. Jaeger Skoda Fabia R5 +8:10.7
8. T. Suninen/M. Markkula Ford Fiesta R5 +9:17.0
9. S. Sarrazin/J. J. Renucci Skoda Fabia R5 +9:23.6
10. Y. Rossel/B. Fulcrand Citroën DS3 R5 +12:57.1
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings:
S. Ogier (88 points); J.M Latvala (75); T. Neuville (54); O. Tanak (48); D. Sordo (47); C. Breen (33); K. Meeke (27); H. Paddon (25); E. Evans (20); A. Mikkelsen (12); S. Lefebvre (10); J. Hänninen (9).
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings:
- M-Sport World Rally Team (129)
- Hyundai Motorsport (105)
- Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC (79)
- Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team (71)
