Abiteboul remains calm despite Toyota's dominance at the start of the year

2-0. This is the result of the face-to-face between Toyota et Hyundai at the start of the season, to the advantage of the first. After Monte-Carlo, the Japanese signed a new double, this time carried by Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta on the snowy roads of Rally from Sweden.

On paper, this second round of the campaign was once again tight and contested but Hyundai did not hold out over the long term, leaving the Yaris cars alone to victory. Ott Tänak believed in it after a promising Friday, but the Estonian lost the thread on Saturday. Thierry Neuville took over in third position but the Belgian never managed to get involved in the battle against Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, complaining of constant understeer preventing him from holding his own against them.

Hyundai had to face the facts. It was therefore preferred to consolidate 3rd and 4th positions in the general classification, hoping to pocket a few additional points during the Super Sunday and the Power Stage. A blessing in disguise as Toyota had a clean sweep.

As they set sail for Kenya (March 20-23), the South Koreans are already 48 points behind Toyota, whose start to the season has been perfect, punctuated by two doubles in as many outings. Enough to cause panic among the competition?

« Like in Monte Carlo, it was tight all weekend in Sweden, but unfortunately not in a good way., concedes Cyril Abiteboul, President of Hyundai Motorsport.

Thierry was impressive after a slow start but gradually gained confidence and pace to work his way back up to the podium, which is certainly a sign of good things to come for both him and his team-mates.

Overall, this result means that the championship has not started in the right way for us, but it is clear that we do not need big improvements to turn things around. We need to focus on a clean rally, starting with Kenya, which will be a great opportunity to do better than in previous years.. » Indeed, because Toyota remains on 4 consecutive victories in the Safari…

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