2018 WRC Preview: Can Hyundai wrestle the title from M-Sport?
One wonders how Hyundai will reflect on 2017. On the one hand, it was a very successful season; four rally wins, and a second place in both drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships means that Hyundai arguably had its best-ever WRC season last year. On the other hand, it missed an opportunity to end Ogier’s stranglehold.
Hyundai could have won the title last season. It would be fair to say that it had the fastest car – Thierry Neuville won more rallies than anyone else and took the most stage wins, whilst him and Dani Sordo managed six power stage victories, which was more than any other manufacturer. The South Korean manufacturer sustained a title challenge throughout much of the season. When Ogier retired in Finland, Neuville took the lead in the standings at last. It seemed as if we were set for a titanic battle between the reigning champion Ogier and Neuville, the two-time runner-up.
Few could have predicted quite how disastrously wrong it could all go for the Belgian, but after suffering terminal suspension damage in both Spain and Germany, his title dream faded and faded fast.
It was mistakes like those in Germany and Spain – both caused by innocuous-looking cuts – that defined Neuville’s season. From the get-go, he was on the pace, leading comfortably in both Monte-Carlo and Sweden, the first two rounds. In both, he crashed out needlessly. In truth, Neuville could have written the textbook on how to lose a title that probably should have been yours.
Meanwhile, M-Sport and Sebastien Ogier showed last year the perfect way to win a title. The key was consistency. Ogier only won twice, because even the great Frenchman generally did not quite have the pace that carried Neuville to his four wins. The difference maker was that Ogier only failed to finish in Finland, after a heavy crash that injured co-driver Julien Ingrassia. At every other rally, he finished in the points – and not only that, he was on the podium 9 times. Neuville, meanwhile finished out of the points entirely on four separate occasions.
The title winning blueprint for Neuville is clear. He has to make sure he gets to the end of every rally, and he cannot afford to make any mistakes like he did in 2017. Perhaps he just needs a bit of luck on his side.
That’s a blueprint that Andreas Mikkelsen will be trying to follow too. Mikkelsen was inexplicably left without a WRC drive to begin with. He spent the year firstly with Skoda, in WRC2, then with Citroen, and then finally with Hyundai for the final few rounds. What can we expect from him?
“When I signed for Volkswagen all those years ago, I signed as a junior driver who wanted to prove himself,” Mikkelsen told Autosport in October, on the eve of his Hyundai debut. “I think I did that, and now I sign with Hyundai to win the world championship. This is what I want and this team has given me the chance to go out and do it. ”
His 2017 performances – understandably – varied, with a sensational drive to second in Germany, his last rally in a Citroen, being the high point. With Hyundai, he delivered a great performance in Wales, but otherwise struggled. Mikkelsen needed a little more time to get used to the i20 WRC, which was evident from the way he tailed off after a good start on the opening day in Spain.
If he expects to be fighting his good friend Neuville and his former team-mate Ogier next year, though, there won’t be much time to get used to the new environment. To challenge for the title, he’ll have to come flying out of the blocks – but he thinks he can do it.
It’s less clear what we can expect from the 3rd i20. 2017 didn’t go as planned for either Hayden Paddon or Dani Sordo, and thus, they will end up sharing a car in 2018. Both will compete at 7 rallies, with Hyundai running 4 cars in Portugal.
Sordo wasn’t massively impressive last year. His best rally was the Tour de Course, where he took third place as well as two powerstage points, but in Germany and Spain, the two rallies where he managed 2nd in 2016, he failed to score, crashing out in both. It is telling that he never beat Neuville unless the Belgian had an accident – Sordo’s pace was never quite good enough.The seven rallies that he will participate in next year include the four events that take place at least partially on asphalt, and it is there that he will look to atone for the errors made in 2017.
Paddon, on the other hand, never really got going. After such an impressive 2016, where he won in Argentina and managed four in the final standings, it was an awful year for the Kiwi. No doubt, the incident on the opening stage of the Monte Carlo Rally would have played on his mind, but the results simply weren’t there – no wonder he described it as the ‘most difficult year of his life’. He will take solace with the podium finish he achieved in Australia at the tail end of the year.
The momentum he had after 2016 is no longer with him, but it’s easy to overlook that even with his disastrous luck last year, he still managed the aforementioned Australia podium, as well as a runner-up finish in Poland. It won’t be easy to recapture his form, especially without a full campaign, but write him off at your peril.
Both Paddon and Sordo, whatever their faults, are talented rally drivers, and more than capable backup to Neuville and Mikkelsen, at the very least. Should the Alzenau-based squad build the car that they need, it is a lineup that is certainly good enough to win a manufacturers title.
All they need is for Neuville and Mikkelsen to find their rhythm, keep it on the road, and win some rallies, while Paddon and Sordo take podiums and provide backup. No pressure.