Hyundai Motorsport to field three Hyundai i20 WRCs at Rally de Portugal - Hyundai Motorsport will enter three cars into Rally de Portugal in April
- Thierry Neuville and Juho Hänninen will be nominated to score points for the Hyundai Motorsport entry, while Spaniard Dani Sordo will participate in the event with a third car
- The team also confirmed its participation in the Fafe Rally Sprint ahead of Rally de Portugal.
Alzenau, Germany
February 20, 2014 – Eager to accelerate its learning curve in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Hyundai Motorsport has today announced that three Hyundai i20 WRC cars will enter into Rally de Portugal, round four of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship, in April.
The team’s lead driver Thierry Neuville will continue his role behind the wheel of the #7 car, whilst Finn Juho Hänninen will drive the #8 Hyundai i20 WRC after a promising performance at Rally Sweden earlier this month.
After the debut for the team at Monte-Carlo back in January, Spaniard Dani Sordo will join the Portuguese event by driving the Hyundai i20 WRC #20.
The Alzenau-based team has also announced its participation in the Fafe Rally Sprint, a traditional event organized as a precursor to Rally de Portugal. The one-day event will be held on Saturday 29th , March at the iconic Fafe-Lameirinha stage – which was part of the classic Rally de Portugal – and will attract hundreds and thousands of spectators each year.
Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “Having three cars at Rally de Portugal will be very positive for us and it will allow us to continue our data collection and to accumulate more mileage in our debut WRC season. I think we have a good line-up for Portugal with Thierry, Juho and Dani – each of them will bring their experience and will give us their own unique feedback which will help us in the continuous development of the Hyundai i20 WRC. Thierry’s level of performance combined with Juho’s skills on gravel and Dani’s experience and excellent track record at Rally de Portugal make them a very good choice for the event” he said.
“We are also very happy to take part in the Fafe Rally Sprint the weekend before Rally de Portugal. Of course, this will be a very warm-up for the event but it’s also a fantastic occasion for hundreds of thousands fans gather to see their WRC heroes in action on one of most famed stages in the history of the World Rally Championship” he concluded.
-Ends- About Hyundai Motor Company Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond. The company, which leads the Hyundai Motor Group, an innovative business structure capable of circulating resources from molten iron to finished cars, offers top-quality best-sellers such as Elantra, Sonata and Genesis. Hyundai Motor has seven manufacturing bases and seven design & technical centers outside of South Korea and in 2013, sold 4.73 million vehicles globally. With over 90,000 employees worldwide, Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with localized models and strives to strengthen its leadership in clean technology, starting with the world[s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered vehicle, ix35 Fuel Cell.
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http://www.hyundaiglobalnews.com About Hyundai Motorsport GmbH Established on 19 December 2012, Hyundai Motorsport GmbH is responsible for Hyundai’s global motorsport activities and primarily for its World Rally Championship programme. Based in Alzenau on the outskirts of Frankfurt in Germany, the company is embarking on its debut season in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2014 with a bespoke team of skilled staff and a brand new car, the Hyundai i20 WRC.
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