NEUVILLE: ‘WE SHOWED OUR INTENTIONS’
Thierry Neuville has praised the Hyundai Motorsport team for demonstrating its determination and intention at Rally Sweden earlier this month.
Despite finishing second in Ume, the Korean company managed to place Craig Breen and Neuville on the podium twice. According to team leader Cyril Abiteboul, that result, along with Esapekka Lappi's victory on the Wolf Power Stage, is enough to make the team happy as it heads to Mexico.
"I believe we demonstrated our strategy and Hyundai's goal for this year in Sweden," stated Neuville. Given that I missed portions of the test and felt ill just before it began, [Sweden] clearly wasn't the best preparation for me. I'm pleased with what we accomplished, and now we're eager to travel to Mexico.
Neuville hasn't had the best luck at the Guanajuato competition; third place in North America is his best result there.
The Belgian has another cause to smile after getting off to a strong start.
The fact that my primary championship competitors are ahead of me in Mexico is encouraging, he remarked. It should be a good fight, in my opinion.
After round two, Abiteboul was bursting with optimism and headed for the first long-distance competition of the year. We continue to all smile, he continued. Being back on the podium is a fantastic accomplishment for Neuville, who was disadvantaged from the outset [in Sweden] for a variety of reasons. Craig was outstanding the entire weekend in terms of performance and speed as well as attitude and awareness of the team's circumstances. An outstanding team performance overall.
ENTRY LIST: GUANAJUATO RALLY MÉXICO
Ott Tänak leads away a field of 10 top-tier Rally1 cars on the WRC’s return to Mexico for the first time since 2020.
Tänak, who is now in the lead heading into the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship, will start the race on Friday by taking the lead on the arduous gravel stages in the Guanajuato mountains.
Together with Jourdan Serderidis, a gentleman driver, Pierre-Louis Loubet, a young Frenchman, and the Estonian complete the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 lineup.
The biggest development may be the addition of Sébastien Ogier to Toyota Gazoo Racing's lineup of GR Yaris, who won the most recent race in Mexico.
Ogier, who took first place in the Rallye Monte-Carlo, will make his second start of his part-time 2023 campaign while assisting Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans in their pursuit of manufacturers' championship points. A fourth Yaris is being driven by Takamoto Katsuta, who will solely be vying for driver's honors.
Dani Sordo, a member of Hyundai Motorsport's trio of Thierry Neuville, Esapekka Lappi, and drivers, is also making his first start since the start of the season.
Also making his first start since the season opener is Dani Sordo, who teams up with Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi at Hyundai Motorsport.
Former WRC driver Gus Greensmith begins his WRC2 campaign in León. Armed with a brand-new Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Englishman will go head-to-head with ex-colleague Adrien Fourmaux, who fields a Fiesta Rally2 for M-Sport Ford. Oliver Solberg - another star with past top-flight experience - has also entered a Škoda.
Toksport will be represented by Emil Lindholm, the defending WRC2 champion, and Nikolay Gryazin, who will drive older-specified Fabia Rally2 Evos.
Due to logistical constraints, Lindholm said, "We are using the Rally2 Evo for Mexico." "The automobiles and all the necessary parts were sent by sea directly from Japan to Mexico. Simply put, doing it this way was the simplest option.
Martin Prokop and Kajetan Kajetanowicz, both driving Kodas, are other WRC2 stars.
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