The team principal of Hyundai Motorsport, Julien Moncet, reveals that it was uncertain if his team would run with three cars at Rallye Monte Carlo while he hopes that better days will come for the team after the first WRC event of the season.
The Korean team was the last WRC team who began its preparations for this season as it was unsure if it will continue to WRC in 2022, but eventually it received the green light from Hyundai in Korea at the last minute.
At Rallye Monte Carlo, only one Hyundai driver [Thierry Neuville] got to the finish and scored 13 points for manufacturer's championship, but his race was not easy as he faced issues with the hybrid unit, the suspension and the brakes.
In addition, Oliver Solberg and his co-driver, Elliott Edmondson, were forced to retire after the end of the first stage on Sunday due to the fact that they did not feel well after having been inhaling fuel fumes since Friday morning.
Finally, Ott Tanak was forced to retire in the second loop of Saturday after suffering from two punctures, but he could not manage to restart under the regulations of Rally2 on Sunday as Hyundai mechanics detected an issue with his i20N following by his little exit in Stage 11. Also, it must be mentioned that he faced engine issues and lost the hydraulics in Stage 1 while he got an issue with the hybrid unit in Stage 3.
"It has been a very difficult event. How to start?", Moncet said.
"We had some positives because we managed to bring three cars here, and this was not guaranteed a few days before.
"This is the first achievement.
"We showed some good performance when the car was running trouble-free.
“We are not far away, the car is quite competitive, so this is really encouraging.
"These other things I would like to keep in mind to stay as positive as possible.
"Of course we had a lot of issues.
"We are never pleased with these kind of issues but I was expecting to have some because it’s a new regulation, new cars, we’re already quite late.
"So I’m not surprised but I’m not pleased.
"We always hope for better days".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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