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Geoffrey Harris25 Aug 2014
NEWS

MOTORSPORT: Hyundai glory in WRC

Korean manufacturer triumphs with 1-2 in Rally Germany in its first season as VW and Citroen falter — now for Rally Oz

Hyundai has won a round of the World Rally Championship at just the ninth attempt with its i20.

Not only that, it finished first and second — in Rally Germany, home of the sport’s dominant manufacturer Volkswagen.

It was a home event in a way too for Hyundai, as its 20-month-old team is based at Alzenau on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

Victory was delivered by Hyundai’s 26-year-old Belgian driver Thierry Neuville, whose car had required an 18-hour rebuild after he rolled it six times in a vineyard on the event shakedown.

It was Neuville’s first win in the WRC, ending VW’s winning run of 12 straight victories.

Runner-up was Spaniard Dani Sordo, 31, who won in Germany last year in a Citroen but had not driven in the championship this year since Argentina in May.

Australia’s Chris Atkinson will be in one of the Hyundais for Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour, the next round of the championship on September 11-14.

Germany was a disastrous round for VW, with its French world champion Sebastien Ogier out of the event on Saturday night after two crashes and its Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala crashing into a vineyard on the first stage of the final day.

Latvala’s exit left Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke leading in a Citroen, but a faulty pace note caused him to hit a wall at the start of the next stage.

Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan, overjoyed at the manufacturer’s surprise success in Germany, said that “winning was never on the agenda in this learning year”.

“I feel a little bit like I am dreaming,” Nandan said.

“We could never imagine that, coming here, in just our ninth WRC rally, that we would be celebrating a 1-2 result.

“It is quite remarkable and very special. Our team has been absolutely first class.

“To see Thierry take his first win and Dani on the podium is wonderful.

“We wanted to use this year as a learning year and we won’t let this result carry us away.

“However, we have made continuous progress and our i20 WRC is improving all the time.

“We benefitted from the unfortunate retirement of other drivers, but we were genuinely fighting for the podium and that reflects the progress we have made as a team.”

Neuville finished 40.7 seconds ahead of Sordo with Norwegian Andreas Mikkelson third in the surviving VW, almost a minute behind the victorious Hyundai.

“Everyone [at the Alzenau factory] has worked so hard in the past year to get us to where we are this season, so to celebrate my debut WRC win with them is very special,” Neuville said.

“It is even better that we have a 1-2 in our ‘home’ event.

“The team did a fantastic job after our roll on Thursday to get the car repaired, which makes this result more incredible.

“We have had three competitive days and we have been able to put the pressure on.

“It was a shame to see Jari-Matti and Kris retire on the last morning, but that reinforced the need for us to remain focused and concentrated.”

Sordo said the Hyundai team “has really developed a lot since I was last competing [in May] – both in terms of the operations and the car performance”.

“It is a testament to all the people who work so hard in the team and at the factory,” Sordo said.

“Normally I would prefer to be the one scoring the win, but I am happy with second this time and I am pleased for Thierry.

“It was a tough rally so we were focused on getting to the finish safely.

“We can really use this result to continue our momentum and our learning in our first year.”

World Rally Championship driver standings after nine of 13 rounds – 1. Sebastien Ogier (France, Volkswagen Polo R) 187 points; 2. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, Volkswagen Polo R) 143; 3. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway, Volkswagen Polo R) 110; 4. Mads Ostberg (Norway, Citroen DS3) 74; 5. Thierry Neuville (Belgium, Hyundai i20) 73; 6. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland, Ford Fiesta RS) 73; 7. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain, Ford Fiesta RS) 57; 8. Kris Meeke (GB, Citroen DS3) 54; 9. Martin Prokop (Czech Republic, Ford Fiestra RS) 37; 10. Henning Solberg (Norway, Ford Fiesta RS) 26.  

Australia’s Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) is 18th on six points after just one event.

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Written byGeoffrey Harris
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