Korean car giant Hyundai becomes the newest team to enter the WRC beginning with this weekend’s Monte Carlo Rally.
In less than a year, the Hyundai Shell World Rally team has gone from an empty workshop with no cars and no staff to a base outside Stuttgart, Germany, which has produced a pair of i20 WRCs.
Spearheaded by talented Belgian driver Thierry Neuville who is in charge of the #7 Hyundai, the team has high expectations.
The #8 i20 will be driven by Dani Sordo in its Monte baptism but unlike Neuville, who is pencilled in for the whole season, the second car will be rotated between Sordo, Juho Hanninen (confirmed for Sweden) and Australian Chris Atkinson, who is confirmed for the Coffs Harbour event in September.
In Monte Carlo, Speedcafe.com’s Gordon Lomas caught up with team principal Michel Nandan, who offered some insight into the challenge which he has overseen over the last 12 months.
SPEEDCAFE: As the newest team in the WRC, what are the expectations leading into your first event?
NANDAN: We are still in a phase of development. The car is new as well. We have to learn how to work all together as a team. We have to bond and this is something that can’t be done in two days.
SPEEDCAFE: How many miles of testing have been logged since the car first ran midway through last year?
NANDAN: We did a bit more than 9,000km last year. There is never enough testing. We started in July and to do a certain amount of kilometres you have to do tests really close and there is no time to react between the tests.
We were doing a test every two weeks and for some things it could be okay but for development parts it is not enough to redesign parts. This was the most difficult thing.
It is not ideal but what we did from the beginning was to focus on having a car that was reliable. So we were focussed on durability and all the design was done in this direction.
SPEEDCAFE: The development program was very cramped; what do you consider to be an ideal time frame for a new WRC team starting from scratch?
NANDAN: I would say it would be less than one year to design a car and another year to do testing and development. So between 18 months to two years to reach a good level.
SPEEDCAFE: What do you consider to be successful this year?
NANDAN: To be here present for Monte Carlo. Last year when I joined the team we had nobody. We had an empty workshop and everything had to be built. So we had to hire people and equip the facility.
It was a very, very hard job to do this in that short time. This I can tell you was not very easy to have two cars here at Monte Carlo ready to rally.
SPEEDCAFE: What was the feedback from both Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo after the shakedown?
NANDAN: They were both happy with the car. The feedback was okay; we had no problems. It was just a way to check to see if everything was really working. The two cars we have are brand new. We have just done a small shakedown in Germany.
SPEEDCAFE: How conservative is the engine and technical set-up of the cars?
NANDAN: Let’s say the car is quite conventional in this respect. We are driving a set-up that we have developed in testing from September last year.
There were some specific tests relating to Monte Carlo in December. This is what we are running at the moment and there is no change from what has been tested before.
SPEEDCAFE: How do you measure your goals this year? Is it in terms of podiums or better and just finishing rallies?
Nandan: Our main goal is to improve the car. Then of course we want to have some podiums probably by the end of the year. But our priority is to finish rallies as much as possible. And to get good information and feedback so we can prepare for the next season.
To improve the car is to do rallies. You can do a lot of tests but its always different than rally.
SPEEDCAFE: With the #8 car, when will you decide with the rotational drivers (Juho Hanninen, Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson) who will be driving in what rallies after Sweden?
NANDAN: We have not decided yet who will be the driver for Mexico (Round 3), for example. We still have a bit of time to decide it but this will be in a way that will help Hyundai as much as possible to progress with the car.
There’s no real fixed decision which driver will do which rally and it will come step by step.
SPEEDCAFE: You have a tough job developing this car and then preparing the new car for next year. How will you handle this?
Nandan: All the experience you get on one car is always good we you do another one. Our priority is a new car. If we spend a lot of energy on the present car then the other car will be delayed. But there are still a lot of things that we can do on this one that can be transferrable to the other one.
We have organised the team where one part is working on the actual car and the party is working on the new car. So its a long term and a short term development team.
SPEEDCAFE: Will the cars be stronger in sealed or gravel rallies?
NANDAN: I don’t think it will be better on tarmac or gravel. From the results of our tests is quite the same in different road conditions. We will have to wait and see if the test results are proven on different rally surfaces.
SPEEDCAFE: How realistic is it to be competitive this season?
Nandan: When I started in January last year I didn’t think it was possible to be present at Monte Carlo now. In the end we did it but it was not easy. But I think anything is possible. I think we have to get high targets as quickly as possible.
