Hyundai Motorsport did not start the hybrid era of the WRC with good feelings. Reliability was the true Achilles’ heel of the new Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at the Monte Carlo Rally and only Thierry Neuville managed to finish the entire test, albeit far from the three drivers who were fighting for the podium. For this reason and with very clear objectives, Hyundai has chosen to wipe the slate clean and extinguish the failure of the Montecarlo with the start of the tests for the next round of the calendar.
With the clear need to improve the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in terms of reliabilitysince in terms of pace he is not so far behind his rivals in the few moments in which he has managed to work well, the South Korean firm has started the specific tests for the Swedish Rally. For the second round of the WRC calendar, the demands are radically different, since the Nordic round is the only one of the entire calendar that takes place in winter conditions. The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 will have to deal with sections full of snow and ice.
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In this aspect, Oliver Solberg has been the first to take the controls of the ‘Rally1’ of the South Korean house to check the behavior of the car on this new surface. According to the words of Kalle Rovanperä after the test that he has completed in recent days with the Toyota hybrid car, the son of Petter Solberg has been able to meet a car that is considerably more complex to drive than previous World Rally Cars on this surfaceamong other things because of the extra weight that the new hybrid system that incorporates the ‘Rally1’ supposes.
Be that as it may, Oliver Solberg closes a circle at the Swedish Rally that began to be drawn a year ago in another winter test. At the Arctic Rally Finland, which replaced Sweden, Solberg had the opportunity to compete for the first time in a Hyundai i20 WRC Coupé in the premier class of the WRC. Since then, the young Swedish driver has settled in the Hyundai Motorsport project at the top of the World Championship after contesting five rallies with the team’s World Rally Car.
Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Oliver Solberg is a full-fledged factory Hyundai driver and will share the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 with Dani Sordo, being in charge of piloting this third unit in Sweden. In the Scandinavian sections he will share work with Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak, riders who will take over from Solberg in this test in the coming days to evaluate the performance of the car with which they compete full time in the 2022 World Rally Championship season.