Toyota won the first battle of the 2025 season of the WRCMore Hyundai did not lose the war, far from it. If the Japanese team imposed itself in style by signing a double during the Rally Monte-Carlo, the opening round of this 2025 campaign, the South Korean clan put up a good fight against the Japanese, notably with the solid third place ofAdrien fourmaux for his first with his new team. However, Hyundai had a more laborious weekend concerning its two leading drivers, between a Ott Tänak fast but irregular and a Thierry Neuville first at fault with a track exit, then unlucky with a puncture and then a mechanical problem.
The result of the races: when Toyota struck a major blow in the Constructors' championship by scoring 60 points in one go, Hyundai was only able to collect 36 points on this first weekend of the season. "It's not a bad weekend, but I think you can't really be very satisfied when [the season] starts with a Toyota one-two," admitted Cyril Abiteboul on RTBF microphone after Monte-CarloThe president of Hyundai Motorsport, although disappointed by his team's defeat, retains the positive from this first round, in particular the impressive performance of Adrien Fourmaux on the Monte-Carlo.
"When we also look at very positive things, I obviously start with Adrien's very nice third place. I think it's almost the first time in the history of Hyundai Motorsport that we're really going to have three cars that can be on the attack, that can perhaps claim podiums, or even victories, at each rally. the French leader rejoiced. And that's very positive for the team. It's also positive for the other two drivers who, in a way, will be supported in their priority mission which is to fight for the constructors' championship."
"The second positive point is that I am reassured about the competitiveness of the car in the game of 'pluses' and 'minuses' of winter with the regulatory changes, I didn't really know where we were going to end up, added Cyril Abiteboul, satisfied with the performance of the i20 N Rally1 on asphalt. On the Monte-Carlo, it's not about pure performance, and when the conditions were more or less stable on Saturday, especially in the dry, it works well, even very well with Ott when he gets into the right frame of mind. I also see three drivers at the finish, with mishaps, not necessarily with the level of competitiveness that we want, but who have also shown intelligence. These are the three positive points. Afterwards, you have to be careful not to get left behind, because it can go extremely quickly. I'm leaving Monte-Carlo rather frustrated, but very reassured about the season that's starting."
Abiteboul not worried about Neuville
The French leader also said he was not worried about Thierry Neuville's average performance in this Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Belgian, winner in 2024, only finished 6th in this 2025 edition and only collected nine points to start the season. A result far from ideal to defend his world champion title, but Cyril Abiteboul evokes a " booster shot of the difficulty » to be consistent and efficient in WRC.
"You have to see it as the fact that nothing is a given and that even world champions have to completely get back to work, they have to question themselves, recalled the president of Hyundai Motorsport. We need to understand why he was never really confident with the car, even though it's a car he won with last year. I think Thierry is someone who needs to master all the parameters and here, you had to work with the parameters you were given, especially unknown tires and unknown conditions. And that's not Thierry's cup of tea. But hey, we're going to find rallies where things will be much more controlled, much more known. I have no doubt that we'll find him at the front very, very quickly."
Major developments in Sweden
If Cyril Abiteboul is not alarmed after this mixed Rallye Monte-Carlo, it is also because he has reasons to be optimistic for the rest of the year. For the next meeting in Sweden (February 13-16), Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville will benefit from a much more advantageous starting position than in the Monte-Carlo (4th for the Estonian, 5th for the Belgian in the absence of Sébastien Ogier). Above all, they will finally be able to take the wheel of the evolved i20 N, equipped with new features and major developments that have been expected for several months, and which will make its debut in Scandinavia.
"I think our number one asset is the cohesion of our team, concluded Cyril Abiteboul. I don't want to talk about Toyota. I want to talk about us, and for us, our number one asset will be the cohesion of our three drivers. I believe in the power of this asset. In Sweden, the car will have its developments, they are quite profound. In any case, these are developments that we have never had since the introduction of this car three years ago, it should still be visible.
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