The Hyundai Motorsport team has claimed its third consecutive top-four finish in the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) as Thierry Neuville (#7 Hyundai i20 WRC) finished Rally Finland just outside the podium positions in fourth place. After a difficult rally, the two remaining Hyundai i20 WRC cars completed final stages, two runs of the 14.40km Myhinpää stage, with a deliberately cautious approach from the drivers, as the team added valuable points to its Manufacturers’ total.
Dani Sordo (#8 Hyundai i20 WRC) completed the rally in 11th place after his off on the last Saturday afternoon dropped him out of contention for the top-five. A two-car finish was the team’s revised target following the unfortunate retirement of Hayden Paddon on Friday, and although the outright pace was not enough to challenge for the podium, the team has still made improvements throughout the last weekend. For Neuville, the result helps to cement his fifth place in the drivers’ standings and comes after a steady run for the Belgian this weekend. A crash in Thursday morning’s shakedown dented his confidence but he has picked up the pace over the weekend, culminating in a solid finish.
Sordo was on course for a top-five result this weekend but an incident at the start of the last Saturday afternoon’s loop ended the Spaniard’s charge. He lost five minutes of time rescuing his car which dropped him down the classification but his resilience and determination allowed him to salvage a finish just outside of the top ten.
Rally Finland is always a test of the drivers and the last weekend’s event has proved once again that a driver’s confidence level can make all the difference. The Hyundai Motorsport team has worked hard to improve the performance of the Hyundai i20 WRC throughout the event’s 20 special stages and fourth place marks an improvement over the team’s sixth place twelve months ago.
