2016 Rally Sweden February 11 - 14, 2016 ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rally Sweden February 11 - 14, 2016 2016 HYUNDAI’S HELLO Welcome to Rally Sweden, round two of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship and another new challenge for Hyundai Motorsport. Rally Sweden will be the second event for the New Generation i20 WRC and a second different surface. We have tested on snow back in December and again last week with the new car and it’s gone well with no major issues. The drivers have been happy too; they’ve found good set-ups for the differential and the dampers so I think they are all quite confident. Thierry finished second in Sweden last year in the 2015 car but the drivers say that the New Generation i20 WRC feels even better. The car is a bit longer so it should be more stable on fast sections of road like you get in Sweden. We believe we have gained a bit of traction too, which is important on a low-grip surface like snow. In Sweden the car runs on gravel specification but there are specific details you can prepare for this event. You don’t want to get too much snow in the car because it adds extra weight so you have to make sure it is well sealed, inside the wheel arches and underneath the car. Also, because of the cold temperatures we don’t have to cool down the car as much as usual so we’ll use a different radiator. And you need to be able to quickly remove snow from in front of the radiator if you get into a snow bank! For 2016 we are altering the driver composition from rally to rally to give us maximum flexibility. We decided to bring Hayden forward for Rally Sweden because he did the event last year, something that Dani unfortunately couldn’t do because he was injured. Hayden therefore knows the conditions and he’s been doing well on fast rallies, so he’s a good choice. Sweden is a bit special and different to what he’s used to but he did well last year, finishing fifth. We were delighted to see the New Generation i20 WRC finish on the podium on Rallye Monte-Carlo. It was an important result for the entire team and the culmination of a lot of work from our colleagues in Alzenau. It was also really fantastic to see Thierry back on the podium where he belongs. But we can’t rest on our laurels because there is much still to do. We will run three New Generation i20 WRCs for the first time in Sweden and we are determined to continue improving. Michel Nandan Team Principal, Hyundai Motorsport Rally Sweden February 11 - 14, 2016 2016 ON STAGE WITH... HAYDEN PADDON Rally Sweden will be your first event driving the Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC. Excited? “Based on the testing we’ve done with the new car, it’s something I’m very excited to be driving and hopefully we can have a good result. I’ll also be scoring points for the team.” HAYDEN PADDON Driver From what you’ve seen of the new car, what can TEAM POSITION: you expect from it? AGE: 28 “Fast, loose surface events should be the strongest WRC STARTS: 48 point for the New Generation i20 WRC. The new @HaydenPaddon car on gravel is a good step forward compared to its predecessor and we have a much better chassis /haydenpaddonwrc and engine. Sweden will be really good for the car because it’s one of the fastest rallies.” For the first time you’ve got a full programme of events as a Hyundai Motorsport driver. How does that make you feel and what can you achieve? “I’m very excited! We’ve got a big opportunity with the new car, another year’s experience under our belts and going back to rallies that I enjoy, so I’ve got high hopes. For me personally, I want to challenge for big results and I really want to chase that first win.” How much experience do you have on Rally Sweden, and how does driving on snow compare to the gravel roads you’re more familiar with? “I’ve done the rally twice before, so I’ve not got as much experience as the others but enough that I think we can put up a pretty good challenge. I think the technique crosses over much the same from gravel to snow, but obviously the grip level’s a little bit different and you need to learn how to use the snow banks. You’ve almost got to push yourself beyond the limits of what you normally would because you’ve got much more room for margin. It’s just learning how much further you can take it.” What do you think you can achieve specifically in Sweden? “As a minimum for the team we need to try and be in the top five. Obviously I’d like to be higher than that – if we could be on the podium that would be great – but I have to be realistic and I still have a little bit to learn on snow. But we’re certainly going to be pushing hard and trying the best we can.” Rally Sweden February 11 - 14, 2016 2016 HYUNDAI HAPPENINGS ● Hyundai Motorsport’s pre-Rally Sweden testing was carried out in mid- December. Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon both ran for two days. Dani Sordo tested for two days in Sweden last week when Neuville and Paddon also got an additional day in the New Generation i20 WRC. ● While Hyundai Motorsport’s focus is very much on all things Rally Sweden, preparations for Mexico’s round in early March are well underway with confirmation of the team’s line-up. Neuville will be in the #3 car, Sordo will take the wheel of the #4 machine, while Paddon will carry the #20. ● The tweaked driver composition for Mexico is in keeping with Hyundai Motorsport’s 2016 policy of altering its driver line-up for each rally to ensure it deploys the strongest drivers for each surface encountered. ● Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul start Rally Sweden third in the standings following their podium on last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, a strong debut for New Generation i20 WRC. ● And the performance potential of the new car was further underlined with two stage wins on Saturday and when Sordo scored points in the Power Stage as he and co-driver Marc Martí finished sixth overall. However, there was frustration for Paddon and John Kennard when the New Zealanders crashed on the second morning of the event. ● Although the car is new, the names of the two official team entries will remain the same for 2016: Hyundai Shell World Rally Team and Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team in deference to Hyundai’s title partners Shell and Mobis. ● Kevin Abbring made his debut for Hyundai Motorsport in Sweden last season. For the first part of this year, the Dutchman will be testing and developing the New Generation Hyundai i20 R5 ahead of its scheduled competition debut in the summer. ● Following a systems check in Germany, Hyundai Motorsport was at Fontjoncouse in France last month where Abbring tested the New Generation i20 R5 for three days on gravel roads. ● Hyundai Motorsport will be kept even busier in 2016 with the addition of an extra WRC round in China. Scheduled from September 8-11, the all-asphalt event will be based in the Huairou district, 70 kilometres from central Beijing. Apart from the inclusion of China on the WRC roster for the first time since 1999, the other major calendar tweak is Rally Australia’s switch to the final round with Rally GB moving forward to late October. ● After two years of fruitful cooperation, Hyundai Motorsport has formed an official technical partnership with AMG, the company behind the impressive service and hospitality structure used on all European rounds of the WRC. Rally Sweden February 11 - 14, 2016 2016 HYUNDAI IN NUMBERS 1967: Company founded in Korea. Sales of 5.05 million were being targeted in 2015. 100,000: Hyundai Motor Company around the world employs almost 100,000 people, while the company’s sales network extends to 190 countries. 10,000: Of those global employees some 10,000 people work at Hyundai’s R&D base in the Korean city of Namyang. 26: Close to 200 people from 26 countries work at Hyundai Motorsport's 8,200m2 headquarters in Alzenau, near Frankfurt in Germany. 50: Alzenau is located within a 50-kilometre radius of Hyundai Motor Europe’s base in Offenbach and Hyundai Motor Europe’s Technical and Design Centre in Rüsselsheim. 1: Hyundai’s maiden WRC victory came in Germany in 2014 but only after the team’s mechanics spent 18 hours repairing Thierry Neuville’s heavily damaged Hyundai i20 WRC following his roll in shakedown. 460: That first win came on August 24 2014 following the car’s first test on May 21 2013, a gap of 460 days. 44: As well as being capable of winning rallies, Neuville demonstrated that his Hyundai i20 WRC could fly when he leapt 44 metres to win the Colin’s Crest Award for the longest jump on Rally Sweden’s Vargåsen stage in 2015. 24: A haul of 24 stage wins by Hyundai drivers was celebrated last season. 100: Paddon’s flight home to celebrate Christmas in his native New Zealand was his 100th of 2015.