Reflections on a successful 2019
More than 50 of our most successful customers attended a special celebration event at our Alzenau headquarters to reflect on a positive year of rallying and racing. It was an ideal opportunity to acknowledge victories for our i20 R5, i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR.
A special prize giving ceremony, where the leading drivers and team representatives were awarded a specially designed trophy, was held only metres away from where the winning cars are built.
“The day when we get to host our successful customers in Alzenau is always one of the highlights of the year,” said our Customer Racing Senior Sales Associate Andrew Johns. “It’s a great opportunity to firstly celebrate the championship and race wins taken during the year, but also to build on the strong relationships we have with our customer teams.
Performances rewarded
As well as a day to reward the teams’ performances during the season the event also gave them a chance to catch up with some of the Customer Racing department engineers and mechanics.
In an incredible 2019 season i30 N TCR customers scooped seven major titles, including regional titles in Asia and Europe for drivers Luca Engstler and Josh Files. There was also the inaugural championship in TCR Australia thanks to a dominant season by HMO Customer Racing driver Will Brown. So far in 2019, the car has scored a total of 69 race victories and 175 podiums.
Likewise, the Veloster N TCR – in its first year of competition collected its share of success in the US-based IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series. Hyundai America supported team Bryan Herta Autosport finished first and second in the endurance racing series – drivers Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins taking the title. The squad accounted for four of the car’s ten race wins in 2019 – the remainder coming in sprint competition in the TC America series.
Rally representation
Rallying customers were also well represented among the guests, after i20 R5 crews lifted the national title in Slovenia, Romania and Netherlands.
All three successful duos were on hand to collect their trophies from our president Scott Noh. Also at the event were the teams who finished second in the British, German, Spanish and Portuguese national series – all of which contributed towards the tally of 60 overall wins – to date – for the car during 2019.
Andrew added: “To have so many able to attend is fantastic, and really shows the strength of the R5 and TCR cars that we can deliver. Hopefully we can see some of the same faces back this next time this, together with some new names on the roll of honour after another successful year.”
