After a day of tough driving conditions, Mikko Hirvonen finally claimed a stage win in his Fiesta RS WRC, while bad luck hit Kris Meeke, who suffered the same misfortune as Elfyn Evans who retired on the first pass of the stage earlier in the morning.
Pushing his car and its soft compound tyres to their very limits, Mikko Hirvonen took the stage win, finishing 3.7s ahead of Ott Tanak. Competing the stage with heavily worn tyres, Mikko admitted that the day hadn’t been pretty, but that he was happy with the pace.
At the other end of the scale was Kris Meeke who came unstuck at the same point as Elfyn Evens due to an error in pace notes. While both Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle were okay, the car was unable to finish the stage.
The tough conditions were taking their toll by the end of the day, with Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sebastien Ogier the third driver to complete the stage, though he still leads the championship.
Jari Ketoma found himself in the frustrating position of being stuck behind the car of Yuri Protasov. Having hit a rock and broken a rear suspension link, Protasov held Ketoma up for 2km, however, Ketoma’s pace on the stage was still enough for a stage win in WRC2.
Hyundai Motorsport has today announced Finnish driver Juho Hänninen as one of the team’s test drivers for 2013, ending weeks of speculation over the mystery man behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC in May.
Hyundai Motorsport has been building up its new operation from scratch since the start of the year, establishing the team at a dedicated facility in Alzenau, Germany and recruiting specialists at every level of its organisation.
Test drivers are an integral part of the team’s development programme, requiring the necessary skills and experience to develop a competitive and reliable rally car in a short space of time.
Six months ahead of the debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January 2014, Hyundai Motorsport is in the process of carrying out an intensive test programme to evaluate and develop the i20 WRC on all terrains and conditions.
Hänninen won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2010 followed by the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship and the FIA European Rally Championship titles in 2011 and 2012 respectively. He will be a valuable asset for the team to prepare the assault to the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship.
Hyundai Motorsport will soon be in a position to announce a second test driver for the remainder of the 2013 test phase. 2014 drivers will be announced at the end of the year.
Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “We’re very pleased to welcome Juho on board for our 2013 test programme. I’m sure his experience and background will contribute to the project and I’m happy with the job he’s done so far.
We have decided to work with different drivers with unique skills and capabilities this year, which will provide us with valuable feedback for 2014.
Hänninen said: “I’m delighted to be part of the Hyundai Motorsport testing programme for this year. It’s a fantastic opportunity to work closely to a manufacturer and to give my contribution to this great challenge.
The first run with the i20 WRC was quite positive for me; I’m very impressed with the work the team has done so far in such an incredibly short space of time. I feel comfortable with everyone in the team and I look forward to carry on working with them in the next six months.”