2019 MEDIA GUIDE Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019
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2019 MEDIA GUIDE Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019 ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019 HYUNDAI’S HELLO After an all-too-short summer break, welcome to Finland for round nine of the 2019 World Rally Championship. Following the 1-3 result last time out in Sardinia, Hyundai Motorsport is delighted to be in Jyväskylä to continue its quest for WRC title success. I was pleased for Dani and Carlos, who worked professionally throughout Rally Italia Sardegna, that they secured the victory – although this was of course inherited following Ott Tänak’s problem on the Power Stage, which also lifted Andreas and Anders into third place. Personally, I found the result quite difficult to accept. For the second time this season we achieved a victory that we did not earn on the road and we should not have to rely on the unreliability of others to secure these results. But after the hard work by all three of our crews, Dani and Andreas were able to put themselves in a position to capitalise on the situation. And so to Rally Finland, which is a very particular type of event that warrants an approach like no other on the calendar. It’s a huge challenge for teams and crews alike. With the championship battle entering a critical phase – and competition being so close among the manufacturers – we have brought Craig Breen and Paul Nagle into our line-up for Finland. Craig has demonstrated his ability at this event in the past – finishing third in 2016 – and has a lot of experience, which will be invaluable to us as we continue our pursuit of both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ championships. Paul, of course, is a former Finland winner. We welcome Craig and Paul to Hyundai Motorsport for this rally and look forward to seeing what they can do alongside Thierry and Nicolas and Andreas and Anders. Hopefully this time we can challenge for an outright win on merit and be rightly proud of ourselves in the process. Andrea Adamo Team Director, Hyundai Motorsport Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019 ON STAGE WITH... CRAIG BREEN How good is this opportunity? “It’s massive. We’ve been looking for an opportunity to come back to the WRC since the end of last season. When it became available, I grabbed it with both hands. I can’t CRAIG BREEN wait to get started.” TEAM POSITION: Driver You know Rally Finland but what experience AGE: 29 do you have of your Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC? WRC STARTS: 59 “I have done a day of testing and I also did Rally Estonia where we finished fifth – it was good @Craig_Breen time behind the wheel.” What did you think of the car? /CraigBreenOfficial “I really liked it and it was doing all the things that I wanted it to. I didn’t have to do so many changes to the set-up. I was able to keep quite close to the reference of my team-mates. I felt really happy and confident in the car from the start.” Why do you think you were chosen to drive for Hyundai Motorsport in Finland? “My track record in Finland is not bad, getting on the podium in 2016, and of all the world championship rallies it’s probably the one I have most experience of and am most comfortable on. I’ve been quite consistent in the past, delivering points and results, and that’s what the team are looking for.” Have you set a target? “To do a good job for the team, simple as that. It’s very clear they are doing everything in their power to win a world title this year. For me, I just want to be there to score manufacturers’ points. They’ve given me this big opportunity and I need to repay them in the best way possible.” Are you a Rally Finland fan? “It’s incredibly fast in places with big, wide roads and jumps through the forests. It’s a special place and if you feel confident there, like you’ve got everything in hand and feel safe, you can really do some incredible things. But the most important part is to feel really confident so you can push. When I had my good results there I was in that zone and had that feeling, it just becomes very easy. I hope I can get a feeling like that this year.” Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019 HYUNDAI HAPPENINGS ● Hyundai Motorsport took its third victory of the 2019 WRC season in Sardinia prior to the summer break after a dramatic climax. Problems for rally leader Ott Tänak on the final Power Stage meant Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio were elevated to the top spot to claim their first victory for Hyundai and the second of their WRC careers. ● Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger-Amland moved up into third place following Tänak’s problem to claim their second podium of 2019 as part of a Hyundai Motorsport 1-3. Mikkelsen scored the maximum five points on the Power Stage and Thierry Neuville, who ended the rally in sixth place, picked up three extra points. ● The surprise result means Hyundai Motorsport has extended its lead in the WRC Manufacturers’ standings to 46 points over Toyota Gazoo Racing. Neuville retains third place in the Drivers’ table on 143 points, three behind Sébastien Ogier and seven adrift of pacesetter Tänak. ● Hyundai Motorsport has recruited Craig Breen for Rally Finland to bolster its championship ambitions. Breen, who took his first WRC podium in Finland in 2016, and co-driver Paul Nagle will join Neuville/ Gilsoul and Mikkelsen/Jæger-Amland for the high-speed event to add vital experience to the line-up. Running the number #42, Breen has visited the team’s Alzenau facility and completed a one-day test. He also contested Rally Estonia to get up to speed for Finland. ● A two-part video of reigning WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup champion Gabriele Tarquini driving a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC on gravel in Sardinia has been released on Hyundai Motorsport’s IGTV channel. After enjoying a co-driving experience with Andreas Mikkelsen, Tarquini got behind the wheel with Hyundai Motorsport Team Director Andrea Adamo joining him for the ride. ● Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing celebrated a fourth WTCR victory of 2019 when Norbert Michelisz won the first of three races on the streets of Vila Real in northern Portugal at the start of July. Augusto Farfus, in another Hyundai i30 N TCR, joined him on the podium in third position. ● Luca Engstler scored a maiden TCR Europe triumph when he won Race 2 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria in mid-July. Josh Files, who was victorious in Race 1 in a Hyundai i30 N TCR, heads the standings. The series resumes at Oschersleben, Germany, from August 3-4. Rally Finland August 01 - 04, 2019 HYUNDAI IN NUMBERS 1967: Company founded in Korea and has gone on to establish sales networks in 190 countries and employs over 110,000 people. 10,000: Of those global employees, some 10,000 people work at Hyundai’s R&D base in the Korean city of Namyang. 50: Hyundai Motorsport’s hub in Alzenau, Germany, is located within a 50-kilometre radius of Hyundai Motor Europe’s HQ in Offenbach and Hyundai Motor Europe’s Technical and Design Centre in Rüsselsheim. It’s home to more than 200 employees representing some 29 nationalities. 11: With crews allowed to select their own permanent car numbers for 2019, Thierry Neuville has opted for 11 as a reminder of the first time he and Nicolas Gilsoul finished as championship runners-up in 2013: “It means a lot to us because it was our first strong season in WRC,” he explains. “Both Nicolas and I wanted the number 11, which also has the number one in it. We hope it will bring us success.” 89: Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger-Amland’s car number is partly based on their successful driving partnership. “It was a natural choice for us,” says the Norwegian. “It represents the year we were both born: 1989. We are good friends, we work together very well and this number seemed the perfect fit.” 19: Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena’s car number was an obvious choice, given that this season marks the 20thanniversary of their WRC debut. But as he explains there were other reasons for the decision: “The number 19 is the birth date of my daughter, Valentine. It’s also representative of the one JWRC title and nine WRC titles that I have acquired over the years, which is nice.” 6: Dani Sordo, meanwhile, is sticking with a car number that has served him well. “I chose the number six because it’s what I’ve been using in recent seasons with Hyundai and it has brought us some good results,” says the Spaniard, who is co-driven by Carlos del Barrio. “We have nice memories using this number, so maybe it will bring us even better results this season!” 143: Neuville has made his 2019 title ambitions clear with victory in Corsica and Argentina, plus podium finishes in Monte Carlo, Sweden and Portugal, helping him to amass 143 points in the Drivers’ championship. 52: Sordo’s win on Rally Italia Sardegna, along with Mikkelsen’s third-place finish, means Hyundai Motorsport has now scored 52 WRC podiums since 2014. In Sardinia, Sordo and Mikkelsen took Hyundai’s 12th double podium and its 13th win in total.