With only three rounds left in the season, Hyundai holds a commanding 35-point lead. Barring a major failure, the Korean manufacturer is well on its way to the championship.
This weekend, the third-to-last WRC event of the season takes place in South America, in Chile. Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul emphasizes the importance of caution. Along with the manufacturers’ title, the drivers’ championship is also looking likely to head Hyundai’s way, with Thierry Neuville holding a dominant lead in the drivers’ standings.
“While we approach Rally Chile with both optimism and momentum, we are also going into the event with great caution,” Abiteboul says.
“Greece was a fantastic display of what can be achieved with great team-work, but it is imperative we do not lose focus in the final events of the season.”
Chile marks the final gravel event of the year. After that, the season concludes with tarmac rallies in Central Europe and Japan.
“The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid has demonstrated its robustness and reliability at other gravel rallies this season, so we want to end the final event on this surface strongly before our return to tarmac,” Abiteboul summarizes.
“Every point counts so we need to be at the spearhead of the classification by Saturday evening before we assess how much we need to push on Sunday.”
Even though Hyundai has the luxury of playing it safe in the final three rallies of the season, the team doesn’t want to just cruise to the finish line.
“We want to protect the advantage we have in all three standings as a priority, but we still want to push for wins and podiums too.”
Rally Chile rally features a total of 16 special stages, covering approximately 307 kilometers. The rally kicks off with a shakedown on Thursday afternoon CET.
