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DIVERSOS - HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT COM NOVIDADES

Terça, 07 Março 2023 11:55 | Actualizado em Terça, 23 Abril 2024 22:53

Hyundai Motorsport customer results round-up bulletin

Bailey Sweeny leads the TCR Australia standings after an opening weekend at Symmons Plains where he scored a pair of wins in his Hyundai i30 N TCR
All three of BMA-prepared Hyundai i20 N Rally2 at Rally van Haspengouw finished in the top ten overall, with Cédric Cherain taking the final step on the podium on his debut in the car
Hyundai i20 R5 crew John Wink and Neil Shanks took class victory, and second place overall, on the Snowman Rally to start the Scottish Rally Championship season.

The final week of February welcomed a return to on-track action for our customers in TCR Australia, where they wasted no time in putting themselves at the head of the field with a pair of dominant race wins with the i30 N TCR. On the rally stages there was more early-season joy for i20 N Rally2 and i20 R5 customers with overall podiums in Belgium and Ireland, as well as a superb class victory to start the year in Scotland.

Double victory gives i30 N TCR driver early points’ lead in Australia

i30 N TCR driver Bailey Sweeny made a superb start to the new TCR Australia season at Symmons Plains Raceway (February 24-26) to leave the track as the early championship leader. Beginning his second year in the series, Sweeny started alone on the front row of the grid for the opening race of the weekend, after his HMO Customer Racing team-mate Josh Buchan had been relegated to the back of the grid after qualifying, and the would-be pole-sitter was ruled out with a major mechanical problem.

If Sweeny’s place on the front row owed anything to good fortune then his faultless lights-to-flag drive, which also featured the fastest lap of the contest, proved that his Race 1victory was thoroughly deserved. He backed up the performance by moving up from tenth to sixth during the partly reversed grid Race 2 to put himself back on the front row for the final encounter.

A slow start dropped Sweeny back to third before he slotted into line to begin his recovery. On lap five he retook second place, before embarking on chase of the leader that ended when he moved past on lap 20, before pulling out a three-second advantage over the remaining 10 tours to seal an excellent weekend.

In his Elantra N TCR Buchan scored his best result in Race 1, finishing sixth from the rear of the field before recording two more top tens in the two encounters on Sunday on the short Tasmanian circuit.

Bailey Sweeny - i30 N TCR - TCR Australia - Symmons Plains

Josh Buchan - i30 N TCR - TCR Australia - Symmons Plains

Podium finish leads trio of i20 N Rally2 debutants at Belgian Championship opener

All three cars from the BMA team finished in the top ten overall at Rally Van Haspengouw (February 24-25), the first round of the Belgian Rally Championship. All three of the squad’s drivers were making their competitive debut in the i20 N Rally2, but were on the pace from the very start of the event. Cédric Cherain led the trio in the final results. He and co-driver Damien Withers completed the overall podium, and finished second among those contesting the national championship. The duo accounted for one stage victory on the tarmac roads, as they were never lower than seventh – their standing on SS1 – on any stage.

On their way to sixth overall Bastien Rouard and Johan Jalet were similarly consistent, while Charles Munster and Louis Louka started their year with ninth overall – eighth of the RC2 crews in the entry and seventh of those chasing domestic success.

Charles Munster - i20 N Rally2 - Rally van Haspengouw

Cedric Cherain - i20 N Rally2 - Rally van Haspengouw

Scottish season started with class victory

In their i20 R5, John Wink and Neil Shanks finished a fantastic second overall to start the Scottish Rally Championship season at the Snowman Rally (March 4). Crewing a car freshly upgraded for 2023, the duo was consistent on the technical gravel stages of the event even before scoring an all-important overall fastest time on the penultimate test. The time lifted them to second overall, the lead of PRO4 class that featured a total of 15 R5 and Rally2 cars. They held their position through the final stage to start the season in excellent style.

Finnish pair take eighth in class to complete winter events

Riku Tahko completed the third and final of the winter rallies on the Finnish rally championship calendar with eighth in class at the Jyvaskylan Talviralli (March 3-4). As in the two previous events Tahko and co-driver Sami Ryynänen showed strong place on the icy stages – in this case leaving them firmly in the top ten after the opening four runs. However, a small roll on SS5 saw the duo lose two minutes to the leaders before spectators were able to help the crew back onto the road. Despite the time loss the damage to the car was minimal, allowing Tahko and Ryynänen to continue onto the final two-stage leg.

With another pair of top ten times to close the event the pairing recovered three places up the overall order to reach the end 13^th overall and eighth in class ahead of the season’s break before the first gravel round in May.

Riku Tahko - i20 N Rally2 - Jyvaskylan Talviralli

Moffett brothers take top five results of Irish National Championship opener

Two stage wins helped defending series champion Josh Moffett take third place at the start of the new Irish National Rally Championship season. Moffett and co-driver Andy Hayes completed the podium on the Midland Stages Rally (March 5), finishing less than a second behind the event’s runner-up. Moffett and Hayes showed strong pace throughout the tarmac rally – only twice setting times outside the top three over the course of the nine individual tests.

Older brother Sam Moffett was similarly consistent as he continued to adapt to the i20 N Rally2 as he finished fifth overall.

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Andrea Cisotti said: “The beginning of March is a very busy time for our customers, with the start of the season for many teams in both TCR and rallying competition. Already many of them have made strong starts to their campaigns. In Australia Bailey Sweeny and the HMO Customer Racing team have shown their pace and intent immediately, as well as provided perfect proof that the Hyundai i30 N TCR remains a highly competitive proposition on any TCR grid. Crews with the Hyundai i20 R5 similarly continue to display the strength of that package with superb performances, including a class win of John Wink and Neil Shanks in Scotland with a newly upgraded chassis. Of course, teams with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 have also taken great results. In Belgium, three debutants with the car finished in the top ten, while Riku Tahko completed the Finnish winter rallies with another consistent performance.”

About Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Established on 19 December 2012, Hyundai Motorsport GmbH is responsible for Hyundai’s global motorsport activities, including the FIA World Rally Championship, FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup, and Customer Racing projects. Hyundai Motorsport quickly established a strong reputation in WRC, finishing as runners-up in the manufacturers’ championship on three consecutive occasions between 2016 and 2018 before claiming the title in 2019 and 2020. The company then embraced the all-new technical challenge of WRC’s hybrid era in 2022, resulting in the birth of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. Since the establishment of its Customer Racing activities in September 2015, Hyundai Motorsport has become a trusted partner for teams and drivers looking for success on the rally stages or on racetracks around the world. From its competitive i20 N Rally2 to the front-running Elantra N TCR, Hyundai Motorsport-built cars have claimed victory in several championships, including national rally series in France and Spain, as well as titles in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Designed and built at its Alzenau headquarters, the Veloster N ETCR heralded an exciting new era in 2019, in which electric racing became one of the company’s pillars. Embarking on its tenth year in 2023, Hyundai Motorsport continues to unify WRC, Customer Racing, and electric racing, which play instrumental roles in driving Hyundai’s global high-performance N brand and are supporting an important perception shift for the Hyundai brand around the world.

About Hyundai Motor Company
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is present in over 200 countries with more than 120,000 employees dedicated to tackling real-world mobility challenges around the globe. Based on the brand vision ‘Progress for Humanity,' Hyundai Motor is accelerating its transformation into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. The company invests in advanced technologies such as robotics and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to bring about revolutionary mobility solutions, while pursuing open innovation to introduce future mobility services. In pursuit of sustainable future for the world, Hyundai will continue its efforts to introduce zero emission vehicles equipped with industry-leading hydrogen fuel cell and EV technologies.

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