In an unexpected turn of events, Hyundai Motorsport took its third victory in the 2019 WRC championship after beating out Ford and Toyota for podium dominance.
Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio finished first with a time of 3h32m27.2s and their team mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger-Amland got in third 32.6s behind them.
Toyota GAZOO‘s Ott Tänak was expected to clinch the victory, but a steering issue caused him time at the last stage. Tänak finished 5th position overall, still a great place to be all things considered. Here are the current standings.
The next WRC event, Rally Finland, will take place between 1 and 4 August 2019. Being Toyota GAZOO Racing’s ‘home turf’, this might be their time to shine once again. They’ve previously won rounds there in both 2017 and 2018.
Quotes and comments below.
Dani Sordo (Hyundai Driver car 6)
“This is incredible. I have no words; it’s just an amazing feeling to take my first win for Hyundai and the second WRC win of my career. Of course, I am very sorry for Ott and Toyota to have experienced such bad luck on the Power Stage. At the same time, we knew we had to keep the pressure on in case this sort of situation occurred. I just can’t believe it happened. We have been quick and consistent all weekend. There was no chance to beat Ott on outright pace so we just did what we could and avoided mistakes. It wasn’t easy but we made it through to the end – and we now have this fantastic victory as a reward. Thanks to Carlos and to the team for the support and for sharing this result. I think it will take some time to fully sink in.”
Ott Tänak (Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver car 8)
“Very early in the final stage, something very strange happened with the steering and basically it was locked. We were stationary for some time, fighting to get the steering working. Somehow we managed to get going again, but there was a lot of time lost and so was the victory. I’m frustrated, but I also feel very sad for the team. Everybody put so much effort in for this event and in the end to lose it in this way is really a shame. I’m sure that the team will work hard to solve the problem, and we will keep fighting. It’s been a tough season so far but the championship situation is much better than it was at the same time last year. Now it’s time to have some rest and be away from rallying for a bit, and then it’s back to business.”
