Hyundai Motorsport will be hoping to get its 2018 FIA World #Rally Championship (WRC) back on track next weekend as it tackles the second round of the season, #Rally Sweden.
Despite showing glimpses of potential in Rallye Monte-Carlo, the team left the Principality with a disappointing fifth place finish, as all three of its #Hyundai #i20coupeWRC cars ran into trouble over the course of the weekend.
Salvaging six stage wins and seven Power Stage points from the season-opener, the team is aiming for a more representative result as the #WRC moves onto the snowy Scandinavian stages.
Three crews will fly the flag for the #Hyundai Shell Mobis World #Rally Team in Sweden. #andreasmikkelsen and #thierryneuville will again compete in the #4 and #5 cars, while Hayden Paddon returns to take over the #6 car from #DaniSordo for this event.
Both Neuville and Paddon have registered podium finishes in Sweden, finishing second in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Mikkelsen, meanwhile, twice visited the podium with his former team and will be aiming to replicate those performances in his first full snow event for #Hyundai Motorsport.
The 19-stage #Rally will be a celebratory occasion for the Norwegian with Friday’s itinerary taking in six stages across the Swedish border in his native Norway.
All three crews prepared for the event with a three-day test in Kall, Sweden from 30 January to 1 February. Fresh snowfall made for ideal conditions with temperatures expected to remain sub-zero for the #Rally. The #Hyundai #i20coupeWRC will be fitted with studded Michelin tyres to tackle the frozen stages, which offer some of the fastest roads of the season.
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