Hyundai Motorsport WRC Review: Round 8 - Rally Estonia.

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

• Second place in Estonia is Belgians’ fifth podium of the season
• Claimed 12 top-three stage times and an extra Power Stage point on Sunday

Neuville said: “I am very happy to finish on the podium; this is a good boost of motivation for both the team and myself. I have never been so fast at rallies like this. Looking forward to Finland, this is a great sign as we can clearly see we have improved our car on high-speed gravel. Of course we had hoped that we could finish in front of Kalle, who had another incredible weekend and there was nothing we could do to fight him. On our side it was a very strong performance and I am very satisfied. We made no mistakes and we were able to push, as well as keep cars behind us. Hopefully we can do a little bit more for Rally Finland and be fighting again for podium positions.”

Crew Notes: Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (#4 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)

• Fantastic fourth podium in 2023 for Finnish crew
• Third place in Power Stage confirmed three additional championship points

Lappi said: “It has been a strong weekend for our team. I think we were closer to Toyota than we all expected to be, but still a bit too far behind, which we need to keep working on. This is the first time I have been flat out for three days in a row fighting with someone – Elfyn was really fast here last year so it was fantastic to win this battle. Thank you to the team; we didn’t have any problems this weekend except from the hybrid, which was my fault. We have done a good job on the testing and development of the car, so we just need to continue that. There is still work to do but as we can see from these results, we are heading in the right direction.”

Crew Notes: Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (#3 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)

• Finnish crew finished fifth in debut WRC event with Hyundai Motorsport
• Suninen pays tribute to Craig Breen after emotional first Rally1 outing

Suninen said: “It is a really special feeling to finish fifth. I’m sure Craig has been following my weekend. It would have been nice to have finished on the podium for him, but we didn’t manage it here. I have done all I can to try and work as he had been working, and it’s been an emotional rally for me. I would like to say a big thanks to Hyundai Motorsport and everyone in the team; it is a super environment to work in. We were able to make good progress with our driving and experience of the car, and we were improving our times stage by stage. I enjoyed every one of them and I am grateful for the support of the team to help me become an even better driver.”

Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “It was important to have a clean weekend here in Estonia and that is exactly what we have achieved. We built on the good work that was done in preparation for the specifics of this event, which has not always shown the strength of our car. It has certainly paid off with another strong result and two podiums finishes. Congratulations to Thierry and Martijn and Esapekka and Janne on their incredible performance. Teemu and Mikko have also done a very good job; there was lots for Teemu to learn, particularly the hybrid system, and he didn’t put a foot wrong. We now look forward to seeing what they can accomplish in Finland. Finally, we should not forget that once again Toyota has been dominant here this weekend, and even though we have made progress it is only as good as what the competition is capable of doing. We need to take that as inspiration for the steps forward that remain to be taken for the next events.”

Next rally

The 2023 FIA World Rally Championship continues with Rally Finland, the ninth round of the season, which will take place from August 3-6.