-Hyundai World Rally Team Ott Tanak wins the 2021 WRC 2nd leg at the Finland Arctic Rally
… It is the fastest in snowy roads approaching -30 degrees with an average speed of 121.6km/h.
… Teammate Thierry Neuville also climbed to third place, achieving double podium and adding valuable points.
-Hyundai World Rally Team, brushing off bad luck in the opening game, narrowing the gap with the leading Toyota team to 11 points
… Thierry Neuville announces competition for the driver’s championship by climbing one stair to second in the driver category
-Hyundai Motor, which has become the champion in the manufacturer category for two consecutive years since ’19, will challenge the WRC for three consecutive victories
… The 2021 WRC season, scheduled for a total of 12 rounds, rises to the fore of fierce competition.
Hyundai Motor Company declared its first win this year at the Arctic Rally in Finland, the only snow and ice race during the 2021 WRC.
Hyundai Motor Company will host the Arctic Rally Finland, the second event of the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC) season held in Rovaniemi, northern Finland from February 26 to 28 (local time). It was announced on the 1st (Mon) that he achieved a double podium with victory in ).
The Hyundai World Rally Team participated in the’i20 Coupe WRC’ race car in this race by Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville, and Craig Breen.
The first WRC arctic rally held in the Arctic Circle was held near Rovaniemi, the administrative capital and commercial center of Lapland, located in the northernmost part of Finland. Rovaniemi, also known as the hometown of Santa Claus, has a winter temperature dropping to -30 degrees Celsius and a short sunlight time, which is a place for race cars and athletes to challenge themselves in the cold.
In addition, in the case of the Rallye Monte Carlo before the opening of the WRC, a tire strategy optimized for the road surface served as a big variable for the game as the snowy road and paved road were mixed. However, in the case of the Arctic rally running on a frozen snow field, all participating athletes were equipped with snow tires with studs (gongs embedded in the tire rubber) identically, and the performance of the race car itself could be seen to be more effective.
Hyundai Team Ot Tanak, who had been leading from the start of the competition, gave the team the first championship of the 2021 WRC with a perfect run that did not allow a single turn during the match. Despite the snow-covered course, Ott Tanak’s Arctic Rally has an average frequency of 121.66km/h and a maximum speed of 190km/h.
Teammates of the same Hyundai team Thierry Neuville and Craig Brin also ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively, boasting the overwhelming performance of the i20 Coupe WRC race car in cold weather. Toyota’s Kale Rovanperä took second place, and 2020 WRC driver champion Sébastien Ogier ended in 20th place due to an accident in the last stage on Saturday. With this victory, Hyundai Team and Ott Tanak also set a new record as their first win at the WRC Arctic Rally.
With the achievement of double podium including this championship, Hyundai Motors added 47 points for the manufacturer’s integration, narrowing the gap with the No. 1 Toyota team by 11 points, maintaining the second place in the manufacturer category. Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville also scored 27 points and 18 points, respectively, in this event, ranking 5th and 2nd in the overall driver rankings, stepping closer to the goal of winning three consecutive wins in the manufacturer division of Hyundai Motor Company and the first championship in the driver division. . The gap between Rovan Ferra, who took the lead, and Neuville, second place, is only 4 points.
Hyundai Team has optimized the suspension, damper and steering performance to match the newly selected Pirelli snow tires this season, and prepared a suitable headlight setup for each driver considering the short sunlight time, which seems to be the secret that led to the perfect victory of the Arctic Rally.
An official from Hyundai Motors said, “Without a single retire, we completely finished the Arctic Rally in Finland in 1st, 3rd, and 4th place, and completely satisfied the regrets of the Monte Carlo rally, the opening game. “I will do my best to run the rest of the schedule in order to achieve the great achievement of the company.”
Meanwhile, the 2021 WRC will be held in a total of 12 rounds, including the Arctic Rally, which is this event, ▲Croatia ▲Belgium ▲Kenya (Safari) ▲Japan. It is predicting a tough and fierce game. The upcoming 2021 WRC Game 3 will be played in Croatia from April 22nd. [끝]
<사진 설명> Hyundai Motors World Rally Team achieves double podium at the Arctic Rally in Finland in the 2nd round of 2021 WRC
Hyundai Motor Company declared its first win this year at the Arctic Rally in Finland, the only snow and ice race during the 2021 WRC.
Hyundai Motor Company will host the Arctic Rally Finland, the second event of the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC) season held in Rovaniemi, northern Finland from February 26 to 28 (local time). It was announced on the 1st (Mon) that he achieved a double podium with victory in ).
Picture 1~3) Hyundai Motor’s’i20 Coupe WRC’ rally car driving at the 2nd round of the ‘2021 World Rally Championship’ in the Arctic Rally in Finland.
Photo 4) Players who won the podium at the 2nd round of the 2021 World Rally Championship held in the northern part of Finland. From the right of the photo, Codedriver Martin Wydaeghe, driver Thierry Neuville, winner Ott Tänak, Hyundai Motorsports Corporation Manager Seung-Wook Noh, and Codedriver Martin Yabeoya ( Martin Järveoja), second-place driver Kalle Rovanperä, and codedriver Jonne Halttunen.
Photo 5) The appearance of the podium players and Santa Claus celebrating at the 2nd round of the 2021 World Rally Championship held in northern Finland. Codedriver Martijn Wydaeghe, 3rd place from right in the photo above the podium, driver Thierry Neuville, winner Ott Tänak, senior vice president of Hyundai Motorsports Corporation Seung-Wook Noh, and Codedriver Martin Yabe Martin Järveoja
<참고>
-2021 WRC driver rankings and scores
1 Kalle Rovanperä 39
2 Thierry Neuville 35
3 Sébastien Ogier 31
4 Elfyn Evans 31
5 Ott Tänak 27
6. Takamoto Katsuta 16
7 Craig Breen 16
8 Dani Sordo 11
-2021 WRC manufacturer ranking and score
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 88
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 77
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 24
4 Hyundai 2C Competition 22
table. 2021 WRC schedule
Round country schedule
1 Monaco (Monte-Carlo) January 21-24
2 Finland (Arctic)* February 26-28
3 Croatia* April 22-25
4 Portugal 20-23 May
5 Italy June 3-6
6 Kenya (Safari)* 24-27 June
7 Estonia July 15-18
8 Finland July 29-August 1
9 Belgium* 13-15 August
10 Chile September 9-12
11 October 14-17, Spain
12 Japan* November 11-November 14
* New rally added to the 2021 WRC schedule
