Hyundai Motorsport WRC Report: Round 7 Rally Estonia.

Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Estonian crew secured their third podium of the 2022 season after Croatia and Sardinia
• Joint stage win in SS20 added to 15 top-three stage times this weekend

Tänak said: “For the first time in my life, I have not been competitive in Estonia, so that’s a bit frustrating. It’s unfortunately the situation we are in, we did everything we could, but third place feels disappointing. The real positive is the number of kilometres we have been able to complete across all three cars. We now need to evaluate our next steps in terms of development. The Estonian fans have shown that they are passionate and full of support, so I am thankful to them for that; it’s just a shame we weren’t competitive.”

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Fourth place for the Belgian crew with a measured performance
• Objective was to keep out of trouble and secure points

Neuville said: “It has been a tough and challenging weekend for us. I haven’t felt comfortable in the car, and it just didn’t work out. Lots of things came together, and even the Power Stage today didn’t go well, with zero visibility – I couldn’t see anything right from the start. Somehow, we were able to come away with fourth position, which is really the best we could have expected in this event. Our competitors were very strong, and Ott was driving really well. To finish behind our team-mate in this rally was all that we could do. We stay positive, continue fighting and there’s always hope for improvements.”

Crew Notes: Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (#2 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Signs of encouraging pace from the crew including four top-four stage times
• Second fastest time in SS23 (Kanepi 2)

Solberg said: “The conditions in the Power Stage were absolutely crazy, so much rain and standing water! It was a mission to stay on the road, but we made it to the end of what has been a very long and tough weekend. It has been difficult to build the confidence in the car needed for these stages and conditions. The team has done all it could to help me, and we have tried a lot of things. The mechanics have worked hard to prepare the car and it’s been a challenging event for them as well. We showed some signs of promise on Saturday afternoon but have a lot of work to do to get to the proper level."

“Our target today has been to secure third and fourth positions; with the wet weather we have seen it was too risky to fight for the Power Stage. If you look at the level of performance, we have shown this weekend, we can’t be happy. We have been down on pace compared to the cars in front, which has been frustrating. Looking at the number of stage wins we have taken, just one, gives us a good picture of where we are. We need more development on some of the fundamental parts of the car, so we have a long job ahead of us. On the positive side, at least we have seen no major reliability issues, with all three cars making the finish. From where we were in Kenya, that is an achievement in itself.” - Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet