Crews

Estonian duo, Ott and Martin, are no strangers to our rally machinery. The #8 crew return to Hyundai Motorsport for their fourth full season. Previously, the pairing has seen great success in our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, and in the inaugural season of the World Rally Championship’s hybrid era in our i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. Clinching 102 stage wins in a Hyundai, Ott knows how to get one of our rally cars to the top of the times across all surfaces.

Dani has been a part of the Hyundai Motorsport family since our inception in 2014, acting as a key influence in our history and helping us win two WRC manufacturers’ titles. 2024 will mark the fourth season together for Dani and his co-driver, fellow Spaniard Cándido Carrera. Since they embarked on their partnership at round nine of the 2021 WRC season, the duo has gone on to claim seven podiums with us – including one at their home rally of Rally de España – proving they are an integral part of our success in recent years.

Following a full-time drive with us in 2023, our Finnish pairing of Esapekka (EP) and Janne will stay with our team in 2024 on a part-time campaign. Their four podiums with us show that the Finns knows how to perform in our i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.

Andreas and Torstein’s partnership began in 2022, tackling seven events in the WRC2 season and ending 2023 as victors. The Norwegian duo join us in 2024 with a combined 33 years of experience to specialise in tarmac rallies alongside EP/Janne and Dani/Cándido in our third i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. Andreas is no stranger to our team with this year marking the third full season with us, and the third alongside Torstein.

This Finnish duo has enjoyed success together in WRC2, and 2023 sees them bring their talent to our team as part of the Hyundai Motorsport Driver development Programme. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to become part of one of the most accomplished and successful rally teams globally,” says Emil. His co-driver, Reeta, has 10 years of experience to her name, and in 2020 became the first Finnish woman to compete in the World Rally Championship with a WRC car. The pair will continue to contest WRC2, with hopes of defending their championship title.

Our crew of Paraguayan Fabrizio “Fau” Zaldivar and Italian-born co-driver Marcelo der Ohannesian pilot our i20 N Rally2 in WRC2. 2023 marks their second year of rallying together – competing on a number of different surfaces across three continents in this time. With a natural gravitation towards success in gravel events and some steady progress on tarmac too, this year’s calendar is suited to the pairing.

Teemu and Mikko are no strangers to our team, having contested WRC2 in our i20 N Rally2 between 2021 and 2023. In July, Teemu and Mikko will embark on a WRC campaign in our i20 N Rally1 Hybrid for the second half of the season, sharing our third car with Dani and Cándido. Their debut will be Rally Estonia, followed by an appearance in their home event of Rally Finland and further events to be announced.

Craig, who competed with us already from 2019 to 2021, returned to our team in 2023 after a season away. Four of Craig’s eight WRC podiums have come behind the wheel of one of our cars, including a trio of top-three finishes in 2021 at Rally Estonia, Ypres Rally Belgium and Rally Finland. Alongside a new co-driver, James Fulton, Craig was a formidable force in Rally Sweden, which he led at the conclusion of the first day. He finished an impressive second, and was joined on the podium by Thierry and Martijn in third. Sadly, Craig lost his life following an accident in pre-event testing for Croatia Rally. Our entire team sends its sincerest condolences to Craig’s family, friends and his many fans.

Dani will welcome a new face alongside him in 2021, as he is joined by co-driver Borja Rozada in the i20 Coupe WRC. Dani is set for one final outing with Carlos del Barrio at Rallye Monte-Carlo before he embarks on a new partnership with Borja. “It will take some time to adapt but I am sure we will have a very good season,” explains Dani. Borja recalls: “I’ve known Dani since 2004, when we were competing against each other in the Spanish championship – of course he was much faster than us!” Dani will be looking to add to his winning ways in 2020, and the Spaniards are raring to go. “Borja is really good co-driver: he’s a two-time Spanish champion, and the best option in Spain at the moment.”

Our 2018 HMDP crew of Jari Huttunen and Antti Linnaketo are in many ways typical of Finnish drivers. Quiet and controlled in person, but fast and furious when competing against their rivals. Selected following a rigorous evaluation process, the Finns have already caught the attention of our team but for the 2018 season they will have a stern test in the WRC2 category against some big name manufacturers and drivers. While Jari’s rally debut came in 2013, the pair were first introduced back in the summer of 2014 in a meeting facilitated by the AKK Driver Academy. Since then, they haven’t looked back. In 2015, they became Finnish rally champions in the SM3 class, with Jari being named Rally Star of the Future. Just one year later, they triumphed in the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup with six wins in seven events. Their performances opened up the chance to enter the European Rally Championship in 2017, campaigning an R2-specification car. Alongside that, they also stepped up to R5 competition for the first time, entering two events. In just their second start in the four-wheel-drive car, the crew took victory in WRC2 at their home event in Finland, winning the majority of stages ahead of a far more experienced field. Following their HMDP selection, Jari and Antti then took part in Wales Rally GB, which was to be their first rally in a Hyundai i20 R5, privately entered by Sarrazin Motorsport. The opportunity allowed the team and crew to acquire some initial experience ahead of what promises to be an exciting season of WRC2 competition.

Chewon Lim and Martijn Wydaeghe began working together at Hyundai Motorsport in 2016, making their competitive rally debut in June. Chewon Lim and Martijn Wydaeghe began working together at Hyundai Motorsport in 2016, making their competitive rally debut in June. A former circuit racer, Chewon spent two seasons racing Formula 3 single-seaters in Europe. In December 2015, he was selected from 5,000 original applicants as the winner of national television show ‘The Rallyist’, which was aimed at finding a new Korean talent for international rallying. The show put contestants through a rigorous testing program, with a range of challenges – physical tests and driving tasks, including a Gymkhana style runs on tarmac and gravel. Kevin Abbring made an appearance along with other experienced drivers to offer their advice. Culminating in a small rally, Chewon was named the overall winner and has now moved to Germany as part of our HMDP line-up. Young Belgian Martijn was chosen as Chewon’s co-driver, working with him as he learned the basic techniques of rally driving. In 2016 they took part in seven events in total during the year in an R2-specification car. They also drove on the recce at WRC six events with our team. 2017 began a more intensive phase in the crew’s development as part of the HMDP as they step into a New Generation i20 R5 (for more information about the car, visit our R5 section). A 14-event schedule included both tarmac and gravel events with a continued program of training away from the stages.

Norbert, Mikel & Néstor

Luca & Jean-Karl