Hyundai heads ‘down under’ to consolidate second place

— Hyundai Motorsport returns to a three-car entry for the fast and dusty Rally Australia, round ten of 13 on the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar
— Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon will line up in the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team for this event, driving the #7 and #8 Hyundai i20 WRC cars respectively
— Dani Sordo will make his debut in the Coffs Harbour-based rally this year driving the #20 Hyundai i20 WRC for the Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team entry.

Hyundai Motorsport aims to consolidate its second place in the Manufacturers’ standings next weekend as the WRC heads to Australia for round ten of this season’s 13-round Championship.

The team will revert to a three-car entry for next weekend’s rally as it looks to continue the momentum from its fourth and fifth place result at Rallye Deutschland last month, although there has been a slight change to the driver line-up specifically for this Australian event.

Thierry Neuville (#7 Hyundai i20 WRC) will once again represent Hyundai Shell World Rally Team but will be joined by Kiwi Hayden Paddon, who will take the helm of the #8 Hyundai i20 WRC for this event. In his first ever participation in the Coffs Harbour-based Rally Australia, Dani Sordo will take control of the #20 car for the Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team with the objective of building up his experience in the 17-stage gravel event.

Coffs Harbour, located between Sydney and Brisbane along the New South Wales cost, will once again host the service area for Rally Australia. The 17 stages consist of sheltered forest roads and open country tracks, with fast and flowing twists that make for an exciting challenge.

Hyundai Motorsport will use its experience from last year’s Rally Australia to hone the best set-up for the Hyundai i20 WRC, while tyre selection will also be a crucial element of next weekend’s event.

Team Principal Michel Nandan said: “We are looking forward to continuing our recent strong performances as we visit Australia once again. By regulation, we have not been able to carry out any testing in Australia so we will be using our experience from last year and the recent upgrades to the Hyundai i20 WRC to see how competitive we can be. We have made some slight changes to our driver line-up for this rally. Dani hasn’t competed in the Coffs Harbour iteration of Rally Australia before so, in order for us to score as many manufacturer points as possible in our fight for second place, we have moved Hayden, with his experience of the Australian gravel roads, into the #8 car and Dani will drive the #20 just for this event."

Neuville (#7 Hyundai i20 WRC) has built up a good rhythm as the 2015 WRC season has progressed. He most recently claimed fifth place overall at Rallye Deutschland. The Belgian, alongside co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, will be aiming to collect another good haul of Manufacturers’ points in Australia.

Neuville said: “Australia is a nice rally, one that we can compare a bit with Sardinia and other European gravel rallies. However, this is a special event because it is far from home and everything is more difficult to get just right. The conditions are usually very dry and there is also a lot of fog and dust, so it can be a tricky rally to drive. We have shown good pace in recent rallies so we have to build on this progress and continue to accumulate as many championship points as possible.”

Paddon (#8 Hyundai i20 WRC) will have a lot of support from the New Zealand fans next weekend, and has set himself high targets for the weekend. Following a valuable learning experience in Germany, Paddon and his Kiwi co-driver John Kennard are excited to return to familiar terrain of Australia.

Paddon said: “I think that Rally Australia has been one of the races that I’ve been most looking forward to all year and I think, even subconsciously, I have been preparing for it over the past three or four rallies. Yes, there will be some pressure on me, but I think most of it is going to come from myself because I really want to perform there and really want to see if we can be up on the podium again. I will have the same approach as always but this time I will be happy to challenge for points that can help the team in the Manufacturers’ standings. I think we will have a good road position if it stays dry and there’s going to be hundreds of Kiwis here cheering us on, so we hope to put on a good show and, most of all, enjoy it.”

Sordo (#20 Hyundai i20 WRC) and co-driver Marc Martí will use next weekend to acquaint themselves with the Coffs Harbour-based event, at which they have never previously competed. The Spaniard has performed well recently, finishing in a fine fourth place in Germany.

Sordo said: “I have been to Australia before, in Perth, and that was a really nice rally, and I have some good memories from there. I can’t tell you a lot of things about the Coffs Harbour-based event though, as I haven’t done it before, so it is completely new for me. I hear that it is very slippery along with that it has some very fast sections, and is very flat. I will work on the route a bit and check out the rally in advance. I look forward to discovering the stages around Coffs Harbour and to getting a feeling for this event. I will do my best, like I do at every rally.”

This year’s Rally Australia will see drivers head south on Friday through Bakers Creek, Northbank and the 29.51km Newry Long, tackling three new stages along the way. Saturday’s itinerary is set to include day and night stages through Nambucca (50.80km) and Valla (7.94km), some of the WRC’s most challenging roads. Drivers will then return on Sunday to Coffs Harbour for four stages including a repeat loop of Wedding Bells (9.23km) with its infamous jump, the second run of this stage acting as the rally’s Power Stage.