Hyundai Motorsport has enjoyed a positive start to this weekend’s Rally Poland, the eighth round of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship, with all three crews showing competitive performances on a challenging opening day.
Thierry Neuville leads the rally by a slender 1.3s at the end of Friday’s stages with Hayden Paddon in fifth and Dani Sordo in sixth. The team is targeting a strong team result this weekend in a bid to strengthen its championship charge. To have all three Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCs inside the top-six is an encouraging start to what promises to be a tough rally.
“Yes, we’re happy enough with our day,” said Paddon. “It was always going to be trying with the wet, muddy conditions – our road position was always going to be a bit of a disadvantage especially on the morning loop. We struggled a bit, and just did all we could and kept the car on the road. It was very, very slippery.
“Then in the afternoon, we knew it was going to be more even. We made some setup changes to the car which helped me to gain a bit of confidence and we were much more competitive. So we can be content with that. To be in the top five and not far off fourth and maybe see what the guys up front do, a podium is still possible this weekend.
“Looking forward to hopefully improving conditions tomorrow and should be more enjoyable to drive. Mission accomplished for today and now tomorrow’s a whole new game. We’ll try and lift it up a bit and climb the leaderboard.”
The pair were disadvantaged by their road position of eighth during the morning loop. As the stages got muddier and more unpredictable with each passing car, the duo persevered to lunchtime service and did well to hold fifth overall. Positive changes to the car helped them make progress in the afternoon with two top-two stage times helping them to secure fifth place overall heading into Saturday.
The cancellation of Thursday’s ceremonial start due to inclement weather conditions failed to deter the WRC crews. The rally got underway officially on Thursday evening with the first running of the 2.5km Mikolajki Arena Super Special. As the heavy rain continued, it made for demanding stage conditions throughout Friday’s itinerary with muddy, slippery and unpredictable terrain.
The middle day of the rally will see crews tackle nine more stages over a total competitive distance of 144.74km – the longest day of the event.
A loop of four stages – Baranowo (15.55km), Pozezdrze (21.24km), Goldap (14.75km) and Kruklanki (19.58km) – will be run twice with the itinerary ending with a third visit of the weekend to the Mikolajki Arena.
Overall Classification after Day One
1 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 56:21.2
2 O. Tanak M. Jarveoja Ford Fiesta WRC +1.3
3 J.M Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +6.6
4 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC +35.1
5 H. Paddon S. Marshall Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +39.6
6 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +51.7
7 T. Suninen M. Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC +1:11.0
8 J. Hänninen K. Lindstrom Toyota Yaris WRC +1:28.9
9 S. Lefebvre G. Moreau Citroën C3 WRC +1:37.0
10 M. Østberg O. Floene Ford Fiesta WRC +1:42.7
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