Hyundai goes large in Portugal

WRC newcomers Hyundai will field a trio of i20 World Rally Cars at April’s Rally de Portugal in a bid to accelerate the car’s 2014 development programme.

WRC newcomers Hyundai will field a trio of i20 World Rally Cars at April’s Rally de Portugal in a bid to accelerate the car’s 2014 development programme.
The event, round four of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship, will be the first time that Hyundai will run more than two cars.
In the two points-nominated entries will be the team’s lead driver Thierry Neuville and Finn Juho Hänninen who finished an impressive competitive debut in the i20 at Rally Sweden earlier this month.
Joining them after his debut for the team at Rallye Monte-Carlo will be Spaniard Dani Sordo.
“Having three cars at Rally de Portugal will be very positive for us and it will allow us to continue our data collection and to accumulate more mileage in our debut WRC season,” said team principal Michel Nandan.
“I think we have a good line-up with Thierry, Juho and Dani – each of them will bring their experience and will give us their own unique feedback which will help us in the continuous development of the Hyundai i20 WRC.
Thierry’s level of performance combined with Juho’s skills on gravel and Dani’s experience and excellent track record at Rally de Portugal make them a very good choice for the event” he added.
The Alzenau-based team has also announced its participation in the one-day Fafe Rally Sprint on Saturday 29th March, the traditional curtain raiser before Rally de Portugal.
Video

wrc.com