Thierry Neuville: “We hope that the effort will be rewarded” in Sweden

After a terrible Monte-Carlo at the start of the season, Thierry Neuville is aiming to return to the front during the Swedish Rally.

Published on 20/02/2022 à 11:37

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Thierry Neuville: “We hope that the effort will be rewarded” in Sweden

Thierry Neuville wants to relaunch in Sweden. ©Hyundai Motorsport

The beginnings of Hyundai dans l’ère hybride du WRC n’ont pas été un long fleuve tranquille. Dans le dur face à Toyota et M-Sport qui ont visiblement connu une meilleure phase de développement, le constructeur sud-coréen a considérablement accusé le coup lors du Monte-Carlo en janvier dernier avec seulement la voiture de Thierry Neuville at the arrival.

Challenged on the icy roads of the Monaco classic, Hyundai only won one of the 17 special stages at stake, thus confirming the difficulties of the i20 hybrid. Difficulties that the 2020 world champion team hopes to have erased for the Rally of Sweden (February 24 -27), 2nd meeting of the season.

« With a completely new route it is very difficult to know what awaits us but it is certainly very interesting, says Thierry Neuville. While we don't have much experience with the i20 hybrid in these conditions I think the driving style will be similar to previous cars in recent years in Sweden (...) Everyone has worked a lot over the last few months and we hope that the effort will be rewarded this weekend."

The best way to start the weekend! 🤟🏼#WRC #PETRallySweden #HMSGOfficial #TN11 @MWydaeghe pic.twitter.com/sqoa0Z1XBv

— Thierry Neuville (@thierryneuville) February 5, 2022

Aware of the bad start to the year, the Belgian is not the only one to think this way. His garage neighbor Ott Tänak is on the same wavelength. Forced to retire from Monte-Carlo, the Estonian is impatiently waiting for Sweden to get the machine back on track after the poor first outing of the year.

« We want to come back strong after our difficult rally at the start of the season, warns the 2019 world champion. We want to turn this into positive momentum that will carry us through the coming year. » After the misstep in Monte-Carlo, Hyundai worked extra hard in Finland where all its drivers completed training sessions. It is now up to them to demonstrate that the i20 has reached a milestone between the Monegasque classic and Sweden.

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