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Bittersweet ending for Hyundai in Acropolis Rally

Bittersweet ending for Hyundai in Acropolis Rally

Date: 2023-09-27

Hyundai Motorsport ended a challengingouting at Acropolis Rally, the tenth round of the 2023 FIA World RallyChampionship (WRC) season, with Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera finishing thirdafter a tantalising final fight.

It was a bittersweet ending to a punishing event on Sunday 10 September,in which the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team was a genuine contender forvictory. The team looked on course to successfully defend its fantastic 2022win prior to Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe's retirement from the lead onthe Saturday.

Sordo and Carrera continued their close battle with Elfyn Evans fromSaturday, and although they lost second place on the first stage, SS13(Tarzan), the Spaniards responded emphatically on SS14 (Grammeni 1). A stagewin brought the gap down to just 2,7 seconds heading into the Power Stage. Thepair tried everything to regain the position with a last gasp attempt on thefinal test, but ultimately had to settle for third place.

With an unsurmountable gap to fourth, Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm'starget was to bring their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid home in fifth place.There were no repeats of the issues that hampered them earlier in the rally,and the Finns were able to enjoy clean drives through the morning loop. Havingsaved their tyres for a final Power Stage push, the crew successfully claimedan additional point from the weekend.

Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe returned on Sunday to tackle the finalthree stages in a bid to salvage some points for the championship. The crewswung into action on SS13, setting a top-three stage time. The final resultfails to reflect the pace and performance of the #11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1Hybrid crew, who were in a commanding lead of the event prior to theirretirement.

Hyundai Motorsport team principal Cyril Abiteboul said: "We wanted tomake sure we finished this event on the podium, which Dani and Cándidoachieved, but we are all a bit disappointed with the overall result of theweekend. The whole team wanted to do well at Acropolis Rally, particularly asit was the best result of the season in 2022, and we all wanted to replicatethat success. We still demonstrated that the car was working, the team was wellprepared, and the crews were highly motivated."

The WRC heads to South America for the 11th round of the 2023 season,Rally Chile from 28 September to 1 October, which returns to the calendar forthe first time since 2019.