Whatshot
Hyundai stays on top with victory in Rally Sweden
Hyundai stays on top with victory in Rally Sweden
Hyundai Motorsport's Esapekka Lappi and JanneFerm have secured the team's second win of the 2024 FIA World RallyChampionship (WRC) season at Rally Sweden. With a fantastic advantage at the head of the pack, Lappi and Ferm remainedfocused on the ultimate prize on Sunday's three final stages to bring hometheir second WRC victory. The Finns kept their cool across 300 km oftreacherous conditions at a rally where the smallest of mistakes could havehuge consequences. Benefitting from being one of the final crews on the road, Lappi/Ferm tookthree stage victories on Friday in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid toestablish themselves as rally winners. Saturday was all about taking minimalrisks to consolidate their lead, which continued to be the strategy on Sunday.The result is the crew's first win with Hyundai Motorsport, and their secondfollowing their debut victory at Rally Finland 2017. Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe finished third on Super Sunday andconfirmed fourth position overall. The Belgians had the unenviable task ofopening the road on Friday morning, which hampered them from unleashing theirfull potential on WRC's sole snow rally.
The crew dug in on Saturday's afternoon loop toscore three back-to-back stage wins as they moved up the order from tenth tofourth. They ended the event with a bang, leaving everything on the Power Stage- including their rear wing in the final metres - just missing out on the stagewin by a mere 0,1 seconds. Neuville remains the drivers' championship leader bythree points. Estonians Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja recovered from their Friday retirementto finish fourth in Sunday's standings, claiming four points from the newscoring system. The duty of being first on the road fell to the #8 Hyundai i20N Rally1 Hybrid crew on Saturday; despite the disadvantage, Tänak/Järveojasecured three top-three stage times across the day, including a win on the openingtest. The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew finished the event with twoadditional points from the Power Stage. Following consecutive victories in the opening rounds of the season, HyundaiMotorsport is now joint first in the manufacturers' standings. All three of theteam's Rally Sweden crews will return for the first gravel rally of the season,Safari Rally Kenya, which will be held March 28-31. Crew Notes: Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm
Lappi said: "This feels so good right now.I have been hunting for this second victory for quite a while. I have to say abig thanks to Cyril for keeping me in the team after a difficult second half ofmy 2023 season; this moment is such a huge contrast to that. A massive thankyou to the team, and to my family at home as well. It has been a brilliantrally - it could have been more entertaining with fewer retirements, but thesnowbanks can be your friend or your enemy. This week they were my friend; Ipaid them well." Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe
Neuville said: "It is good to get anothervictory for the team. It's important even if the performance wasn't thegreatest, especially on the first passes. However two victories in three weeksis great motivation for us - we only had two wins in the 2023 season. We had toget through without any mistakes, and I think we might have been the only crewwho didn't have any. We had to accept the situation of Friday and we hoped fora better Saturday, where we managed to climb up the rankings. I'm happy to beat the end with decent points." Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja
Tänak said: "It has been tricky thisweekend to have the pace we needed to be fastest. Obviously the mistake onFriday was frustrating and afterwards even more so. We felt better in the caron Friday when the roads were a bit more slippery but when the grip improved wejust weren't comfortable. From my side, definitely too many mistakes to startthe season but we know we can be a lot better. Hyundai Motorsport president and team principal Cyril Abiteboul said: "Ithas been an exciting Rally Sweden! It's been a long wait for EP and Janne, andthey have done a mega job this weekend. I would like to thank Sean Kim for histrust in EP last year when we faced moments of doubt. We knew having a sharedcar would be an advantage for road position in a rally like this one, butequally the job they have done to navigate a number of challenges has beenfantastic."Next rally
WRC will take on the first gravel event of theseason, Safari Rally Kenya, from 28 to 31 March. Hyundai Motorsport's threecrews will be Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe, Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja andEsapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm.
Final Overall Classification - Rally Sweden
1. E. Lappi. J. Ferm. Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. 2:33:04.9
2. E. Evans. S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid. +29.6
3. A. Fourmaux. A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid. +47.9
4. T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe. Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. +1:46.3
5. O. Solberg. E. Edmondson. Škoda Fabia RS. +5:04.2
6. S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +6:23.9
7. G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris. +6:26.4
8. R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +6:48.1
9. M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +7:25.7
10. L. Bertelli S. Scattolin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +7:37.7
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers' StandingsAfter round 2
1
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
87
2
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
87
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
47
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers' Standings After round 2
1. T. Neuville 48
2. E. Evans 45
3. A. Fourmaux 29
4. S. Ogier 24
5. O. Tänak 21
6. E. Lappi 19
7. T. Katsuta 12
8. K. Rovanpera 11
9. O. Solberg 8
10. A. Mikkelsen 6

