The team principal of Hyundai Motorsport, Cyril Abiteboul, says that regrets that his team did not follow a more aggresive approach at Rallye Monte Carlo last weekend, but he is being satisfied with the podium finish.
The Alzenau-based team did not start in a positive way as two of its drivers, Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi, finished in seventh and eight places overall respectively while Thierry Neuville completed the podium and was able to stop the domination of Toyota drivers in Monte Carlo after setting the fastest time in two stages. Throughout last weekend, Sordo and Lappi could not follow Neuville's pace and their times were slow as they did not feel comfortable with the set-up of their i20N. However, it must be mentioned that the Belgian finished 44,6 seconds behind the leader Sebastien Ogier. At the end of the first round of this year's championship, Hyundai stands in second place overall with 27 points, 24 points away from the first Toyota.
"Third place is not a bad start, but we should not lose sight of the fact we have a bigger vision, fighting for wins and championship titles, so we must not get complacent", Abiteboul said.
"There has been lots to digest for myself and for the team; we have had strong drivers, encouraging moments, long days, and lots of work.
"A podium is nice but we’re still 45 seconds from the win.
"Ogier has been the benchmark all weekend and that should act as inspiration for us all to get stronger.
"We need to understand what we’re missing and come back with a response.
"Ultimately, we need more pace.
"We have tried to be more aggressive with the car setup and in hindsight we should have done this earlier in the weekend, which might have given a better dynamic and more confidence to the crews".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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