Hyundai, a click after the Safari Rally slap

26 juin 2022 : dernière étape du Safari Rally, au Kenya. Loin des célébrations de chez Toyota, qui vient de signer un quadruplé historique, Hyundai sombre. Loins, très loins de ses concurrentes japonaises, les pilotes de la firme coréenne ont vécu un véritable cauchemar en Afrique. Sur le terrain piégeur et poussiéreux de la savane kenyane, Thierry Neuville (5th), Oliver Solberg (10th) and Ott Tänak (abandonment) each suffered. The Belgian, the highest ranked in the team, finished more than ten minutes behind the victorious Toyota of Kalle Rovanperä.

More than a lesson, the Safari Rally was a humiliation for Hyundai. If the car showed signs of competitiveness – Ott Tänak had scored the very first victory for a Hyundai hybrid in WRC during the previous round in Sardinia – the reliability of the i20 Rally1 was more than hit or miss. Julien Moncet, deputy director of the team, believes that his troops had hit rock bottom in Kenya.

"This rally definitely woke up the team, confided the Frenchman. Things were looking better than in Monte Carlo and we had good results with victory in Italy and other podiums, but Kenya was a disaster. After that, the team responded very well, pushing all season. Before Kenya, we really had difficulties with the supply of parts and reliability was not there. Afterwards, the team reacted very well and we got closer. The reliability was finally there and we were able to concentrate more on the performance of the car. »

Hyundai, the potential to play for the title in 2023?

Ultimately, even though the Kenyan rally was difficult for Hyundai to endure, it was necessary to help the team develop. Following the African round, Hyundai hung up the wagon and won four times in the last seven events, winning on Toyota soil in Finland then in Japan. Finally, the Korean manufacturer enjoyed its most successful campaign since its arrival in the WRC in 2014, with 5 successes in 2022.

Despite a difficult first half of the season, Julien Moncet says he never lost confidence in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. “It was difficult to know where we were starting the season with the new cars, did he declare. Everything was so new. Were the other cars going to be a few seconds faster or slower? Nobody knew, but we could see pretty early on that we would be able to fight. From the second round in Sweden, we saw the potential of the car. »

Malgré les remous en interne et les nombreuses piques lancées par Ott Tänak, vice-champion du monde de l’exercice 2022, Hyundai est revenu au niveau de Toyota. Sans son champion du monde estonien – parti chez M-Sport – Hyundai devra miser sur son pilote loyal, Thierry Neuville, pour jouer le titre pilotes en 2023.

ALSO READ > Abiteboul soon in WRC at Hyundai?