Hyundai Motorsport has claimed its first-ever victory on the snowy stages of Rally Sweden as Thierry Neuville led a team 1-3-5 result in the second round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship.
The Belgian, along with co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, was on imperious form all weekend, taking five of the team’s eight stage wins. Edging into the lead after Friday’s Svullrya stage (SS3), the #5 crew never relinquished their advantage over their rivals.
Ultimately, it was Citroen’s Craig Breen who finished in the runner-up spot ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger. Third place for Mikkelsen ensured a double podium success for the team in Sweden, as well as the Norwegian’s first top-three finish as a Hyundai Motorsport driver in his fifth WRC event with the team.
That was seventh WRC victory for Neuville and first of the 2018 season.
Let’s recap the weekend!
? First victory in @RallySweden (in case you forgot ?)
?7th #WRC victory (every time a different rally)
5️⃣ stage wins
? Taking 2 points in the Power Stage (yeah!)
??♂️Leading the Drivers’ Standings by 11 pts (total of 41 pts)#HMSGOfficial pic.twitter.com/NqcsUtHcpV— Thierry Neuville (@thierryneuville) February 18, 2018
“An incredible result! We had a disappointing start to the season in Monte Carlo, but we didn’t let that get us down. We kept focused and targeted a strong result here in Sweden”, the Belgian said.
He continued: “We knew the competition would be tough for the win but we came here with the objective to bounce back, and we did that perfectly. We didn’t expect to take the lead so early in the weekend, so we have had to be clever to defend the gap at times, and then increase it when we could. I felt we deserved the win last year, but perhaps even more so this weekend. I was never going to push in the Power Stage because the victory meant too much to risk, so to come away with two extra points is great.”
Hyundai has claimed its first-ever victory on the snowy stages of Rally Sweden as Thierry Neuville led a team 1-3-5 result in the second round of the 2018 WRC
“We’re now leading the championship, so our 2018 campaign is back on track. Thanks to everyone in the team. We have many people working tirelessly every day behind the scenes to give us a competitive car, one with which we can fight for victories like this. This win is for all of them; it’s been a fantastic weekend for us.”
#WRC Drivers’ Standings
1️⃣ Neuville 41 pts
2️⃣ Ogier 31
3️⃣ Latvala 23
4️⃣ Lappi 23
5️⃣ Tanak 21
6️⃣ Mikkelsen 21
7️⃣ Breen 20
8️⃣ Meeke 17
9️⃣ Paddon 10
? Evans 8#HMSGOfficial pic.twitter.com/1L8tOI1sAR— Thierry Neuville (@thierryneuville) February 18, 2018
