Hyundai Motorsport’s Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul says that although crucial performance gains have been made with the i20 N Rally1 on recent World Rally Championship rounds, it still lags behind Toyota.
The GR Yaris Rally1 has been the dominant force so far this season, recording victories on seven of the nine events that have so far taken place. Three of these have come from eight-time World champion Sebastien Ogier on his second successive partial programme in the third works-run car.
Reigning champion Kalle Rovanpera – the youngest in the sport’s history aged just 21 – and two-time World Rally Championship runner-up Elfyn Evans both have a brace of wins to their names.
Toyota’s stranglehold has been broken twice this season, however, with M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak triumphant on the snow and ice-covered roads of February’s Rally Sweden, and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville the big winner at June’s Rally Italia Sardegna alongside team-mate, Martijn Wydaeghe.
Recent improvements to the i20 N Rally1 have helped to inch it closer to the Yaris, as highlighted by consecutive runner-up results for Neuville on July’s gravel-based Rally Estonia and August’s Rally Finland. Teemu Suninen also displayed his and the supermini’s potential by coming home in fifth and fourth respectively following his promotion to the team via its relaunched Driver Development Programme.
Whilst encouraged by what he has seen, and pleased with how preparations for this weekend’s Acropolis Rally Greece are going, Hyundai boss Cyril Abiteboul says that no one can afford to become complacent.
“Following a podium in Finland and a dominant performance here last year, we are all feeling confident for Acropolis Rally,” said the Frenchman.
“An exciting battle for Teemu on Rally Finland’s Sunday showed how competitive the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 has become, and Thierry’s success in second shows that we are getting closer to our goal.
“Nevertheless, we continue to push the limits to keep developing the car and close the gap to Toyota. Our dream for this weekend is ultimately to have a repeat of last year’s 1-2-3 result; at a minimum, we are targeting all cars finishing in the top five,” he added.
Totalling 378 points, Toyota Gazoo Racing currently enjoys a sizeable lead in the Manufacturers’ standings. Hyundai Motorsport has amassed 311 and M-Sport 205 with four rounds of the 2023 campaign remaining.
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