Hyundai Motorsport has registered its maiden victory of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with Thierry Neuville securing victory in Tour de Corse in the #5 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
Dani Sordo made it a rally to celebrate for the team, picking up his first podium of 2017 with an assured drive to third place, missing out on second position by just 1.3-seconds. The result represents the fourth WRC victory in total for Hyundai Motorsport, and the team’s fifth double podium result.
Hayden Paddon finished sixth to ensure all three Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews finished a gruelling rally on Corsica.
“Our focus on this final morning was simply on bringing the car home and scoring a few more point,” commented Paddon. “It’s been a learning weekend for us, but we have to find the positives. Even if the end result doesn’t show it, we have been competing closer to the front this weekend and shown an improvement from last year’s Tour de Corse.
“There’s obviously still plenty to learn but we’re making progress. We must now look ahead to the next rally, the start of a run of five on gravel. We should have a good road position for Argentina so I’m looking to feature more prominently in the next events. Congratulations to Thierry and Nicolas – and everyone back at Alzenau – for the victory.”
Starting Sunday morning with a seemingly comfortable lead of 39-seconds, Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul set about securing their advantage over second-placed Sébastien Ogier.
Tackling the monster 53.78km Antisanti-Poggio di Nazza, the longest stage of the rally on the narrow and winding mountainside roads, the Belgians claimed their fourth stage win of the weekend.
As Ogier hit trouble in SS9, Sordo and co-driver Marc Martí took second in stage and moved up behind their team-mates on the overall classification. Just 2.5s separated the Spaniards from the third placed M-Sport crew heading into the Power Stage. In a thrilling finale, it was Ogier who reclaimed second, leaving the Spanish crew to be content with third.
Sordo added two extra points for finishing fourth in the Power Stage, while Neuville maintained his consecutive run of Power Stage points with fifth place.
With four different winners in the opening four rounds of the 2017 WRC season, the Championship fight is well and truly open. With its 1-3 in Corsica, Hyundai Motorsport has moved up to second in the Manufacturers’ standings, closing the gap to the leaders to 24 points. Neuville moves up into third on the Drivers’ classification with 26 points scored this weekend.
Final Overall Classification – Tour de Corse
1 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:22:53.4
2 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC +54.7
3 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +56.0
4 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +1:09.6
5 C. Breen S. Martin Citroën C3 WRC +1:09.7
6 H. Paddon J. Kennard Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +2:16.3
7 A. Mikkelsen A. Jaeger Škoda Fabia R5 +8:10.7
8 T. Suninen M. Markkula Ford Fiesta R5 +9:17.0
9 S. Sarrazin J. J. Renucci Škoda Fabia R5 +9:23.6
10 Y. Rossel B. Fulcrand Citroën DS3 R5 +12:57.1
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 4
1 S. Ogier 88
2 J.M Latvala 75
3 T. Neuville 54
4 O. Tanak 48
5 D. Sordo 47
6 C. Breen 33
7 K. Meeke 27
8 H. Paddon 25
9 E. Evans 20
10 A. Mikkelsen 12
11 S. Lefebvre 10
12 J. Hänninen 9
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 4
1 M-Sport World Rally Team 129
2 Hyundai Motorsport 105
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC 79
4 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 71
Comments