Hyundai drivers pound the asphalt

Like rival teams, last season’s runners-up were in France before Christmas to put their 2018 car through its paces in some Monte-like conditions.

Hyundai’s lead drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville both took the wheel of the i20 on mountain roads near Nice. They were joined by Dani Sordo, who will pilot a third car on the Monte as part of a split programme with Hayden Paddon.

Mikkelsen was first to test, on Tuesday 12 December, but he almost missed his slot after a connecting flight was cancelled and he had to make an 800km overnight road trip instead.

Sordo took the controls of Wednesday, accompanied by co-driver Carlos del Barrio who will replace Marc Marti as the Spaniard’s WRC navigator in 2018.

Neuville, recently crowned Driver of the Year for the fourth time by the Royal Automobile Club Belgium, tested on Thursday’s final day.