The French team, CHL Sport Auto, confirmed the contracts of Suninen and Lindholm on Monday. The Finnish drivers will race in five WRC events this year with Hyundai i20 N Rally2 cars.
This year, the French team is responsible for Hyundai’s WRC2 operations. Lindholm will make his season debut this coming weekend in Sweden, while Suninen is expected to start his season in Portugal in May.
“To have a such a strong combination of crews and team in the WRC Championship this season is very important for the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 project. We know the championship is incredibly competitive, but both Emil Lindholm and Teemu Suninen have excellent records in the series, which I’m sure they can add to this year,” said Andrea Cisotti, the manager of Hyundai Motorsport’s Rally2 project.
Last season, Suninen competed in the main class of the World Championship, participating in four events with Hyundai’s Rally1 car. This year, he will have to settle for competing in the second tier.
Suninen expressed his excitement about collaborating with the new team.
“We are joining forces with the legendary CHL Sport Auto team, who are the reigning seven-time French Rally Team Champions. Let’s rev up the engines and chase victory together,” Suninen shared on Instagram.
Lindholm clinched the WRC2 championship with Skoda in the 2022 season. He switched to the Hyundai camp partway through the last season.
In Rally Sweden, Lindholm will have the opportunity to gauge his speed against competitors such as Oliver Solberg, Nikolai Grjazin, Sami Pajari, Lauri Joona, Mikko Heikkilä, and Roope Korhonen.
