MOTORSPORT: Hyundai WRC – Building for success

With victory in its debut WRC season, the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team has already achieved more than expected in 2014. Despite the 1-2 finish on the tarmac of Rally Germany with team leader Thierry Neuville taking his first win ahead of tarmac specialist Dani Sordo, team principal Michel Nandan still has his feet firmly on the ground.

"This is still very much a development year for the team," he explained to motoring.com.au at Rally Australia, the tenth round of the 13 event World Rally Championship.

"There was no pressure to win this year, so it hasn’t changed our approach, but it is still nice to have," grinned the team boss.

This cautious approach sits in stark contrast to Hyundai's last WRC effort, which saw the Korean company introduce the Accent WRC in 2000 and proclaim championships within two seasons. Despite a star-studded driving list including four-time WRC champion Juha Kankunnen, the Accents struggled through to 2003 with a pair of fourth places all they could achieve.

After dedicating 2013 to testing its i20 World Rally Car with a cross-section of drivers, including Australian Chris Atkinson, 2014 saw the vehicle's competition debut. With 26-year-old superstar Neuville (who finished runner-up to Sebastien Ogier in the 2013 championship) signed away from M-Sport to lead the team, the decision was taken to run various drivers in the second car, the idea being to employ surface specialists to accelerate car development.

While on-paper this approach has merit, both Nandan and Neuville are reserved on the decision.

"It can be tough coming to each round with a different team mate, who has a different approach," said Neuville, the Belgian wearing his trademark bright-frame glasses. "Sometimes you work well together to improve performance, like in Germany with Dani. But at other times it can be difficult to go in the same direction."

Chris 'Atko' Atkinson, along with Finnish driver Juho Hanninen and Spaniard Sordo, have piloted the second car at different times during the season, Atko being in the chair for Rally Australia. Bryan Bouffier, a skilled tarmac driver who tested with the team in 2013, drove a third car in Rally Germany.

Nandan strongly hinted that, for 2015, Hyundai would look to have more consistency in the second seat, to help develop the car and work with Neuville. "We are very happy to have Thierry lead the team," Nandan said of the man former boss Malcolm Wilson described as "the real deal" and a man he didn't want to let go of.

After a tough start to the season which saw him exit on the first stage of the Monte Carlo rally, Neuville has grown into the team. "To start with, coming into a new organisation, doing it for the first time, it was difficult," Neuville admitted. "But from Finland onwards, things have really been coming together."

A third i20 WRC has also been added for the emerging Kiwi Hayden Paddon on selected events. Well, emerging if you don't follow the lower rungs of the sport; Paddon was Production World Rally Champion in 2011, and found the funds for a limited 2014 programme. The Kiwi subsequently finished Rally Australia sixth outright, strengthening his case for that second seat in 2015. A delayed Neuville finished in seventh while Atko was the fastest Aussie in 10th overall.

In terms of car development, Nandan said the i20 is "very close [to the Volkswagens] on tarmac, but there is still a way to go on gravel."

When asked where pace can be found, Nandan is quite open: "Out of the slower corners we lag behind the VWs… the engine needs more torque."

Development of the 2015 car has commenced with on-road testing in Europe, however it is not a process to be rushed. "It would be pointless to introduce the new car until it is faster and more reliable than the current car," he said, adding that we shouldn't expect to see the new car until "at least six rounds into the series." As the oft-used saying goes, patience is a virtue.

With plenty of development remaining for the current car, and two of the next three events featuring tarmac, look for the i20 WRCs to continue to climb up the leaderboard, rattling the VW cage in preparation for an even stronger 2015.