One year on from our manufacturers’ win
How time flies! On November 12, 2020, our team celebrated the one-year anniversary of our first manufacturers’ title in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
“It is important to commemorate and reflect on achievements,” explained our Team Principal Andrea. “When we were in Australia twelve months ago, it was a very emotional situation.”
“The bushfires were causing devastation in the region, so our initial title celebrations were subdued and respectful of those circumstances. We had some time to let the reality of the title sink in and we could appreciate what we had achieved together. At the same time, we knew we wanted more, so we set about aiming to defend our title this season.”
A testament to hard work and dedication
Twelve months on, we remain in a position to defend our honours. With one round of the pandemic-affected 2020 season left to contest – Rally Monza in December – our team holds a seven-point advantage in the closely fought title chase.
Our first title in 2019 was the result of six seasons of continued growth and increased competitiveness. Our entire organisation had developed from rookie status in 2014 into regular victory contenders in the space of just a few years.
The growing reputation of our team in international motorsport attracted an impressive calibre of talent, as well as loyalty. Thierry and Dani joined us for our debut season, and are still with the team six years later. WRC champions Sébastien and Ott also recognised our attributes.
Flying the flag
By adding our name into the WRC history books last year, we also became the first-ever South Korean manufacturer to take the championship title. From our base in Alzenau, Germany, we have established our equally competitive Customer Racing department as well as competing successfully in circuit racing, representing Hyundai and the high-performance N brand in a range of global motorsport.
In WRC, our title defence started strongly. Thierry and Nicolas began the year with a memorable victory at the prestigious Rallye Monte-Carlo, while Ott and Martin scored their first podiums with our team in Sweden and Mexico.
When the season resumed in September, we renewed our charge with victories for Ott and Dani, one podium each for Craig and Sébastien, and two for Thierry. Nobody could have written the script for the 2020 championship, but this year’s title still has one final act to play out.
“It is testament to the hard work of everyone at Hyundai Motorsport that we have been competitive in recent events, but we must never take anything for granted. If we want to head into the winter with a second consecutive title, we must keep pushing in all areas of our operation. Titles are not gifted; they are earned only with hard work and persistence.”
