Testing under way for thrilling WRC finale

Hyundai Motorsport and Toyota Gazoo Racing have elected to test on roads similar to the mountain special stages which will be used on the Saturday of the Monza-based WRC finale.

M-Sport Ford is running a test at a British track with Gus Greensmith driving a Fiesta World Rally Car.

Hyundai’s i20 WRC is testing in the Lombardy region while Toyota’s Yaris WRC is further north-east in Friuli.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans admitted this week’s test was complicated by the fact that so little is known about next week’s fixture.

“Obviously,” said the Welshman, “we’ve all seen the videos from Monza Rally show and we all have a very good idea of what that event’s about. But we’ve heard about some gravel on the circuit’s stages, which could be interesting.

“Basically, we have elected to test where the bulk of the mileage is and that’s in the mountains on the roads around there. We probably know a bit more about the car on those kind of roads and the priority is to make sure we have the car working in that set-up.

“For us it’s been very little mileage in the Yaris on Tarmac and we’re still really finding our feet with that set-up, which adds a bit of another dimension of uncertainty,” he added.

The rally gets underway on Thursday (3 December) afternoon with a single test at the race circuit. Friday and Sunday feature competition within the confines of the track, while Saturday journeys north-east to roads close to Lake Como, north of Bergamo.

Full coverage from ACI Rally Monza will be available on WRC+ All Live here, including every stage broadcast as it happens as well as key interviews, features and expert analysis from the service park.