Hyundai i20 WRC kicking some dust

"WorldRallyBlog" (world-rallyblog) 08/07/2013 at 06:33 • Filed to: wrc, hyundai, world rally championship, rally, chris atkinson, bryan bouffier, juho hanninen, hyundai i20 wrc

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Hooray for Hyundai, they successfully managed their first gravel test with the i20 WRC. Plenty of work still to do - developing, testing, troubleshooting... Volkswagen's handbrake issue, anyone? Chris Atkinson, Juho Hanninen and Bryan Bouffier took part in this gravel tasting ceremony, with more of the same scheduled for the coming months.

I can't really put my finger on what still feels a bit odd or out of place about this team, but I remember having similar ideas last year with Volkswagen. Not the same, though. Perhaps it's because we know Volkswagen will spend tons of cash to make things work on the stages, so there were no reasons for these... doubts. But if Hyundai wants to do on stages what it's doing on car markets, they should not go cheap on WRC.

Anyhow, bravo to them, hopefully they bring more diversity to WRC next year.

Sparf > WorldRallyBlog 08/07/2013 at 07:09

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I strongly dislike the lack of homologation rules in rally these days...

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > WorldRallyBlog 08/07/2013 at 10:32

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So next year we will have uber-dominant Ogier and his sidekick/backup Latvala batteling it out with Citroen without superb drivers, M-Sport without any money and newcomer Hyundai? I see no way VW is going to take the title...

The sad thing is that I wouldn't mind watching them dominate, but TV coverage is either non existent or very very poor.

Hoccy > WorldRallyBlog 08/07/2013 at 10:58

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They wasn't that successful the last time.. So I don't think they will do the same mistakes this time, and if they get some good drivers they could fight for some podiums.

WorldRallyBlog > Hoccy 08/07/2013 at 11:07

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That really was one big underfunded mistake, not to be repeated hopefully.

WorldRallyBlog > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 08/07/2013 at 11:09

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When you put it like that, you take out even the most artificial bits of excitement from the sport. Allow for some chance that it might not turn out that way. Citroën keeps reiterating their involvement, but no clue what kind of programme they'll run. Probably something similar to what Ford is doing at the moment. They (Citroën) will certainly change at least one driver, and if Hyundai is reliable enough it can be in a position to catch the rest of them quite soon.

Or at least that's what I'm hoping for...

Dusty Ventures > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 08/07/2013 at 12:40

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I disagree with your statement that Citroen doesn't have superb drivers. If you remove Sebastien Loeb (whom I think we can all agree was on a completely different level from anyone else over the last decade if not the greatest of all time) from the equation Mikko Hirvonen would have 33 wins (including 6 last year, 7 if you count his DQ) and 4 championships, both of which would be WRC records. Yes he's having a lackluster season this year but he gets those on occasion (see: 2010)
Also to be considered, VW has brought the largest budget ever seen in the WRC. They've always been of the more money = wins mentality (they spent $100million per year on Dakar alone) and that's the method they've used in the development and fielding of the Polo. Word is they're outspending former budget kingpin Citroen by as much as 2 to 1 (with some saying its even more than that). I'm certainly not taking anything away from Ogier's driving abilities here, I do think he's the best currently active driver, but that car is a cut above as well.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Dusty Ventures 08/07/2013 at 13:28

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There is no question in Loebs skills behind the wheel, and I don't see anyone matching his performance any time soon. But Ogier was always close behind when they were racing for Citroen in 2011.

The other Citroen drivers, well... Hirvonen really has a bad year and is inconsistent. Sordo is an asphat specialist but I expected more from him after his strong performance in the Mini.

What bugs me most is that Citroen lost the 2 most promising young talents they had, Ogier and Neuville to VW and Ford.

And about VWs budget, no question that they spend tons of money on it, just like Audi does in LMP1, GT3 and DTM.

Dusty Ventures > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 08/07/2013 at 13:49

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Ogier was always close behind Loeb, yes, but from a championship standpoint so was Hirvonen. Mikko gave Seb the toughest title fights of his career, with the margin being just 8 points in 2011 and a single point in 2009. Like you said he's having consistency issues this year, last year he scored 10 podiums in 13 events (11 in 13 if you again ignore his DQ). Clearly he needs to go back to making comical video previews for each rally like he did last year, that's the key to winning.
Admittedly I tend to be quick to defend Mikko because I think his entire career being in the Loeb era has made his speed and skill as a driver grossly under-appreciated. I'm also a fan of him because he's a friendly, fun-loving goofball. And he raced a charcoal grill in a downhill event.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Dusty Ventures 08/07/2013 at 14:38

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Don't mistake me for someone who doesn't like Mikko - I think he is pretty cool and I hoped that he would continue the Loeb WRC dominance with Citroen. I also hoped that Sordo would show his talent, but both didn't happen yet.

Dusty Ventures > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 08/07/2013 at 14:53

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Yeah, it's been a rough season. I'm hoping its just one of those "off" years and he's back to normal for Monte