2021 MEDIA GUIDE Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 HYUNDAI’S HELLO Given the freezing temperatures outside, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Arctic Rally Finland and for the first of what we hope will be two visits by the WRC and Hyundai Motorsport to the country in 2021. Before I underline the team’s hopes and expectations for this event, I wish to acknowledge all the hard work that’s gone into putting on this rally in such a short amount of time. The efforts of AKK Sports and all the volunteers, particularly in the context of COVID-19, has really impressed me so a big thank you to them. It’s fair to say we showed our limits on Rallye Monte-Carlo and found ourselves licking our wounds and trying to get ahead. Unfortunately, it didn’t work there and after making some changes to our approach we start the second round of the season hoping it will be much better than the first. Having wished a fond farewell to Carlos del Barrio after Monte as he prepared for the next chapter of his career, we are pleased to welcome back Craig and Paul for the start of their half-season campaign in a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. We know very well their ability and determination as they try to make a strong start to their season. As well as our regular World Rally Car drivers, we are giving a big chance to a really promising youngster, Oliver Solberg. We recruited him to our team in WRC2 for this season because of his clear potential and we can’t wait to see that being realised when he steps up to a World Rally Car for the first time. Oliver is doing this rally to reach the finish, to learn and to improve, and we hope he can do that with a smile on his face. The big results can wait. Arctic Rally Finland will also provide opportunities for two of our other young drivers, Jari Huttunen and Ole Christian Veiby, to showcase their talents on terrain on which they have plenty of experience. Driving the Hyundai i20 R5 until the all-new Hyundai i20 N Rally2 comes on stream later this season, both drivers are part of the Hyundai Motorsport N WRC2 structure. Andrea Adamo Team Principal, Hyundai Motorsport Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 ON STAGE WITH... CRAIG BREEN Given it’s the start of your WRC season, what are your aims for this event? “If we can pick up where we left off the last time we were in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in CRAIG BREEN Estonia that would be great. We’ll have a good road position and it’s the first time for a long time TEAM POSITION: Driver that I have a more defined programme in the AGE: 31 WRC. It’s important to get good points for the WRC STARTS: 63 Manufacturers’ championship but I need to get myself back into the rhythm again of driving the @Craig_Breen World Rally Car.” /CraigBreenOfficial Can you describe the sensation of driving on ice in a World Rally Car? “From what we have seen it’s going to be proper snowbanks, proper frozen roads with a big thick ice base, the best conditions for driving a World Rally Car on ice because you’ve got so much grip, especially with the studded tyres. You have to get your mind around just how much speed you can carry. The security of the snowbanks on the outside of the corners makes you push on to another level.” Two stages take place at night, how difficult will that be? “It’s very difficult to define what’s the road, what are the snowbanks and what else is around. At nearly 200kph in the forest at night is an amazing feeling, but to distinguish what’s what is not easy. We’ll have to eat some carrots and make sure the eyes behave.” How much of a factor is road position? “It’s quite critical if some heavy snow or fresh snow falls before the rally. Obviously the first cars running on the road clear a lot of this away and it gets quicker and quicker with every car that passes. But if the ice is quite thin you’re better off running second or third on the road because you get the best of the ice before it starts to break up. And when it starts to break up it becomes mushy gravel and then it’s obviously slower.” What’s your secret for keeping warm in the cold? “We’ll carry some heated insoles to keep our feet warm because it’s important to have all the feelings in your fingers and toes to drive the car properly. You just need to wrap up warm and stay inside the car as much as possible.” Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 HYUNDAI HAPPENINGS ● Hyundai Motorsport opened its 2021 FIA World Rally Championship campaign with a podium finish for Thierry Neuville and new co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe on Rallye Monte-Carlo last month. ● The Belgian duo claimed third place following a final-day charge, which included a stage win. Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio, in their last event together, were fifth with both crews picking up extra Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ points on the Power Stage. ● After being forced to retire on day three with a double puncture, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were back behind the wheel of a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC during Arctic Rally Finland testing at the start of the month near host city Rovaniemi. ● Tänak and Neuville then completed their Arctic Rally Finland preparations by tackling the Otepää Winter Rally in Estonia in Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCs in mid-February, finishing first and second. ● Craig Breen and Paul Nagle return to the Hyundai Motorsport fold in Finland for their first WRC start of 2021 having scored an impressive second place for the team on Rally Estonia last season. ● Oliver Solberg is also set for a WRC first in Lapland when he makes his World Rally Car debut in a 2C Compétition-run Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. The 19-year-old Swede, part of Hyundai Motorsport’s roster of WRC2 drivers, placed third on the Finnish championship Arctic Lapland Rally in mid-January in an i20 R5. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais continue their season-long campaign in another 2C Compétition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. ● Following Solberg’s promotion to a World Rally Car for Arctic Rally Finland, 2020 WRC3 champion Jari Huttunen will partner Ole Christian Veiby/Jonas Andersson in Hyundai Motorsport N’s WRC2 attack alongside co-driver Mikko Lukka. Indeed, Finn Huttunen has been handed an expanded programme for Hyundai Motorsport N in WRC2 in 2021. Like Solberg and Veiby, Huttunen is set to switch to the new i20 N Rally2 when it comes on stream later this year. ● Although he won’t be competing on Arctic Rally Finland, Riku Tahko has secured a full national championship campaign with Hyundai Finland support. ● Away from rallying, Hyundai Motorsport’s Veloster N ETCR project continues to gather momentum after Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay was recruited as a test and development driver of the all-electric racer alongside Brazilian Augusto Farfus. *Information subject to change Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 HYUNDAI IN NUMBERS 1967: Company founded in Korea and has gone on to establish sales networks in over 200 countries supported by 120,00 members of staff. 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 expert personnel representing close on 30 nationalities. 2: Hyundai Motorsport claimed its second consecutive FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturers’ title in 2020 following a double podium finish on the season-closing ACI Rally Monza in Italy. 3: As well as winning Rallye Monte-Carlo with Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai Motorsport triumphed in Estonia (Ott Tänak/ Martin Järveoja) and Sardinia (Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio) during the shortened seven-event 2020 season. 8: Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo continue as Hyundai Motorsport team-mates for the eighth year in a row in 2021. 171: With 171 starts to his name, Hyundai Motorsport’s Dani Sordo is the most experienced driver competing for a manufacturer team in the 2021 WRC season. 29: Between them, Neuville, Sordo and Tänak have won 29 world championship rallies. Although he’s yet to land an outright WRC victory, Craig Breen, who will share the third factory Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC with Sordo, has finished on the podium on three occasions. 3: Neuville claimed his third successive podium finish on Rallye Monte- Carlo with third place, following on from his breakthrough victory in the Principality in 2020. It was new co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe’s first WRC podium result. 5: Hyundai Motorsport has fans around the world who follow its efforts in the WRC and Customer Racing through social media, with almost five million likes on Facebook. The team also has 82,200 followers on Twitter, more than 359,000 on Instagram and 113,000 on TikTok. Arctic Rally Finland February 26 - 28, 2021 N BRAND ● Hyundai Motor’s high-performance N brand enforces the company’s goal to create vehicles that match up to the high standards of excellence expected, but are as fun to drive as they are practical.