WRC
Tough asphalt outing prompts Hyundai rethink ahead of next WRC rounds
Hyundai says it will “take everything learned” from a difficult Rally Islas Canarias and come “back stronger” at the next rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The Korean manufacturer struggled to find the setup sweet spot across its three i20 N Rally1 cars during last week’s fourth round of the season, and was unable to mount a challenge for victory on Gran Canaria’s smooth asphalt roads.
While Toyota dominated with a remarkable 1-2-3-4 finish — headlined by a stunning drive from winners Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen — Hyundai had to settle for fifth through seventh, with Adrien Fourmaux jokingly declaring himself the winner of the “Hyundai Cup” after finishing ahead of team-mates Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville.
Hyundai’s issues appeared to stem from its pre-event choice of differentials, along with difficulties in extracting maximum performance from Hankook’s hard compound tyre. Notably, Fourmaux opted for a different differential configuration compared to Tänak and Neuville.
With major components — including differentials — sealed during the rally, the team was unable to make significant changes to resolve its pace deficit. However, setup tweaks were made during Saturday and Sunday in a bid to gain a clearer understanding of the problems.
“There are parts in the car that are sealed which does not allow us to get the maximum out of these tyres,” said Hyundai technical director François-Xavier (FX) Demaison during the event.
Hyundai used Gran Canaria as a live test bed in search of answers.
© Hyundai Motorsport
“I cannot say it is exactly this or that — we clearly have things we have not tested yet because we cannot change them, so we have to go through this and test it and see what is really the cause of the lack of performance.”
Reflecting after the finish, Demaison added: “Rally Islas Canarias has been a difficult rally for us. It became an intensive test session where we tried a lot of different things on the car.
We will work harder and get better, faster and stronger.
“We kept pushing today [Sunday], but it was very tough against the four Toyotas, who were very fast. On tough weekends like this, you learn a lot of very interesting things, which we believe will not only unlock performance for us on Tarmac, but on gravel as well. We will now take everything we have learned from these setbacks to come back stronger at the next events.”
What can Hyundai do to resolve its round four struggles?
Hyundai will now evaluate everything it learned in Gran Canaria as it seeks to understand and rectify the issues it encountered.
If that investigation identifies the need for significant technical changes, the team still has one homologation joker remaining — a valuable asset that could be used to upgrade the i20 N Rally1. The car already underwent several off-season updates, including a revised suspension layout and weight reduction.
“We kept one [homologation] joker in case we had an issue to solve, so we will see,” said Demaison. “When we see where we are, and if we think a joker can bring us to where we should be, we will do it for sure — but I'm not sure today [if that is the case].”
Fourmaux led Hyundai’s charge on a weekend of valuable lessons.
© Hyundai Motorsport
There is, however, cause for optimism. According to Demaison, the issues experienced in Gran Canaria were largely specific to the unique profile of that event — markedly different from the asphalt rounds in Central Europe (October) and Japan (November) still to come.
“The profile of the rallies is so different. In Central Europe or Japan, you can compensate because you are not so on the limit with the tyres,” he said. “The grip and the temperature… and there are cuts, so you can be more aggressive. But here [in the Canary Islands], you have four wheels on the ground — you need a perfect car to do this.”
That sentiment is echoed by Fourmaux, who remains upbeat despite Hyundai’s struggles.
“I’m confident Hyundai is not a team that doesn't react when something [goes wrong], so we will work harder and get better, faster and stronger,” he said.
“Canary Islands is only one rally in the season, and as long as there are not many more smooth, dry Tarmac events, we should be fine. The rest are OK — it should be fine.”
