It became clear from the start of the rally that Hyundai had no chance of challenging Toyota on the asphalt roads of Gran Canaria. Adrien Fourmaux finished as the top Hyundai driver, but had to settle for fifth place – behind four Toyota drivers.
Neither the Hyundai drivers nor the team management offered a detailed explanation for the performance issues of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on asphalt. However, French driver Fourmaux revealed that the problem cannot be fixed with a single homologation joker.
“It would take more than one joker,” Fourmaux told the WRC’s official website.
“It’s not just a differential – it’s more than that. We’re going to work harder to find it, and then we’ll be better,” he continued.
Fourmaux hinted that the issues could be linked to the car’s new dampers. Defending world champion Thierry Neuville, however, did not fully agree with his teammate’s assessment.
“I think it’s more things than only damper. It’s a combination of all,” Neuville said.
“We have a few areas we know we need to improve, and we are not able to do it. The driver’s feedback is the same, whether it’s with the step two car or the previous one.”
Hyundai introduced an updated version of its Rally1 car this season, which has now been used in two rallies – Sweden and the Canary Islands.
“We know where our weak areas are, but we don’t know yet how to improve them,” Neuville admitted.
The next round of the WRC season takes place next week in Portugal.
