Hyundai Motorsport sets its sights on the new addition to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, Rally Latvia (July 18-21), looking to put some more distance between the team and its rivals in all three championships.
Rally Latvia is a fast gravel event where precise pace notes will be vital to success. This places greater emphasis on the recce of the event, where crews will have only one pass to gather the information they need. The demands are not limited to its unknown surface and layout: Latvia’s unique itinerary features very few repeat passes of stages. This means crews not only have more stages to prepare before the event begins, but it is also harder for them to get into a rhythm or apply learnings from one attempt to another.
Returning for the weekend to represent Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team alongside Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja will be Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm. This will be Lappi’s third event of the 2024 season after outings at Rally Sweden, where the Finn finished first, and Safari Rally Kenya.
After a tough weekend at Rally Poland, championship leaders Thierry Neuville looks to maintain the lead in the drivers’ standings, while Ott Tänak heads into the weekend currently third. Rally Latvia provides a great opportunity for Tänak close the six-point gap to second, but also for Hyundai Motorsport to pull further away from the rest of the field in the manufacturers’ championship.
For a new rally, it is vital that all three crews have confidence in the car to hit the ground running in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid from the very first stage. Both Tänak and Lappi have undertaken preparation for Latvia by attending other rallies that have similar conditions to the upcoming event: Tänak at Rally Estonia and Lappi at Lietuva Rally in Lithuania. While Tänak was unfortunately forced to retire from his event on the opening day of action, he did complete the full shakedown. This important mileage will stand him in good stead for the next two high-speed events.
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said on the lead up to the Rally:
“Rally Latvia is quite different from the events we have experienced so far this season, with a challenging itinerary, so our preparation will be key for success. This weekend will demand a lot from all the crews, but all three drivers are motivated to perform well and continue to extend the gap between us and our rivals. We know how important it is to have a clean weekend at rallies like this to ensure we bring home as many points as possible – even the smallest of mistakes are harshly punished at these fast-paced events, so we need to minimise our errors and focus on a strong result.”
Hyundai Motorsport
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