Whatshot

2025
2024
June
April
2023
March
2022
2021
2020
March
February
2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2012
December
November
October
September
August
July

Neuville on podium for Hyundai in Rally Chile

Neuville on podium for Hyundai in Rally Chile

Date: 2023-10-17

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydeaghe have secured a podium finish forHyundai Motorsport last weekend after a gripping edition of Rally Chile, round11 of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

The Belgians inherited second place from Teemu Suninen and MikkoMarkkula after the Finns retired from the event on the first stage of theafternoon loop on Sunday.

The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team made the perfect start onSunday to the final stages. With one eye on Elfyn Evans behind, and the otheron closing the gap to their team-mates in second place, Neuville and Wydaeghewere on dominant form. They found a storming rhythm on SS13 (Las Pataguas 1) toextend their advantage to 15,7 seconds and bring the gap to Suninen/Markkuladown to under ten. The Finns were not far behind them, and their own committeddrive secured a Hyundai Motorsport 1-2 stage finish.

Attentions then turned to SS14 (El Poñen 1), a dress rehearsal for theevent's Power Stage. Neuville once again topped the classification as thebattle for second truly heated up. Suninen was initially up on his team-mate atthe first split, but he lost time with a few slides while driving on the limit.It was another 1-2 finish in stage, and the deficit between them was just 6,7seconds heading into service.

Unfortunately, disaster then struck. While Neuville claimed his thirdconsecutive stage win of the day, Suninen clipped a tree stump 7 km into SS15 (Pataguas).The damage caused to their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid meant they were unableto continue, bringing a heart-breaking end to a promising weekend for theFinnish crew.

Neuville/Wydaeghe concluded an eventful weekend with the third fastesttime through the Power Stage, scoring an additional three championship points,as the final flourish on their seventh podium of the season.

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe

Neuville said: "It has been a tough weekend for us. Unfortunately, wehad two cars out, and I feel sorry for both of them - especially Teemu, who washaving a great event. We all know how cruel rallying can be, and we saw it atthe previous event in Greece. We had a job to do this weekend, and we did ourbest despite our issues. We kept fighting and tried to keep our position andprogress to second, and now we've scored good points. It's a shame themanufacturers' championship is over, but it is nice to be back on the podium insecond place. We're happy with that."

Crew Notes: Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula

Suninen said: "I would like to say a big thank you to the team. It was agreat rally and a nice battle with Thierry, but unfortunately our hard workcame to an end because of a very small mistake. I was just a few centimetrestoo tight with my line and hit a tree stump, which was game over. Thankfully weare unhurt. I'm very sorry to the entire team that we were unable to bring homethe podium for them this weekend. We hope to be able to put that right in a fewweeks at Central European Rally."

Hyundai Motorsport team principal Cyril Abiteboul said: "Firstly,congratulations to Toyota on their manufacturers' title win today. Theycompletely deserve it, and it serves as an inspiration for what we need toachieve over the winter to be back on a charge next year. On our side, we onceagain showed some strong performance in Chile. There was some very good drivingby Thierry and Teemu over the weekend, with some great decisions from the teamwhen the tyre situation became tricky. However, there were also some very disappointingmoments, when Esapekka retired in the first kilometres and Teemu in the lastkilometres of the rally. Eliminating mistakes and improving our overallconsistency must be our immediate priority as we head towards the final tworallies of the season."

Next rally

WRC takes on a brand-new addition to the calendar, the Central EuropeanRally, for the penultimate event of the season from 26 to 29 October. Thetarmac rally will feature stages in Czechia, Austria and Germany.

Final resultsRally Chile:

1 O. Tänak/M. Järveoja

Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid

3:06:38.1

2 T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe

Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid

+42.1

3 E. Evans/S. Martin

Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

+1:06.9

4 K. Rovanperä/J. Halttunen

Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

+2:11.0

5 T. Katsuta/A. Johnston

Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

+4:41.5

6 O. Solberg/E. Edmondson

Å koda Fabia RS

+8:18.5

7 G. Greensmith/J. Andersson

Å koda Fabia RS

+8:44.3

8 S. Pajari/E. Mälkönen

Å koda Fabia RS

+9:20.6

9 Y. Rossel/A. Dunand

Citroën C3

+9:53.9

10 N. Gryazin/K. Aleksandrov

Å koda Fabia RS

+10:08.2

2023 FIA WorldRally Championship for Manufacturers' standings:

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 466

2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 360

3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 247

2023 FIA WorldRally Championship for Drivers' standings:

1 K. Rovanperä 217

2 E. Evans 186

3 T. Neuville 155

4 O. Tänak 146

5 S. Ogier 99

6 E. Lappi 98

7 T. Katsuta 77

8 D. Sordo 63

9 T. Suninen 34