Nandan: “A good season but missed opportunities”

Hyundai Motorsport had its best season in WRC with the new i20 WRC, but she harbors regrets at not having managed to win in the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships. Despite the four victories of Thierry Neuville, the Korean brand had to bow to Sébastien Ogier et M-Sport.

Michel Nandan, Team Principal of Hyundai Motorsport, admits that the team hoped to win the Holy Grail given the potential shown.

“I will summarize 2017 like this: a good season but missed opportunities. It was difficult to know where everyone was with the new regulations. Some have placed us as favorites, but we know that reality offers a very different perspective. The end result was not, on paper, what we would have wanted, but we became stronger”, commented the Belgian.

The mixed results can be partly explained by the fact that neither Dani Sordo nor Hayden Paddon managed to win this year.

“We had four wins, more than any other season, and we saw that the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC was excellent and could dominate at times. Our crews adapted quickly and Thierry (Neuville) was especially at the forefront on a regular basis. Dani (Sordo) and Hayden (Paddon) were able to reach this level of performance at times, even if Andreas (Mikkelsen) was immediately on the pace”, underlined Michel Nandan.

The Hyundai Motorsport director admits that his team sometimes made mistakes, whether in driving or in terms of reliability, which cost the team many points.

“Our main problem has been our inconsistency between rallies. We were performing well but we made mistakes in different areas and that's what led to us losing the Championship, admitted Michel Nandan. Our crews will be the first to admit that they have made mistakes and that they sometimes lack confidence. We need to perfect these points. »

“This season has been exciting from the start and it has been very competitive, more than anyone could have expected. It's refreshing after years of domination by one manufacturer. We never considered M-Sport as a private team and that the title was going to fall into our arms. These fights forced us to surpass ourselves,” added the Belgian.

Hyundai will still have had the last word this year by winning the Rally Australia after dominating the event.

Discover the analysis of Rally from Australia carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2141 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.