The team principal of Hyundai Motorsport, Cyril Abiteboul, says that the nerves were very high before the start of Central European Rally as the team tried to balance the expectations and the priorities between the crews and the championship fight.
The Korean team secured a double podium at Central European Rally last week where Ott Tanak claimed his second victory of the season while Thierry Neuville finished at the lowest place of the podium. Tanak and Neuville will continue their fight for this year's title at Rally Japan next month while Toyota managed to cut Hyundai's advantage by two points in Central Europe, thus their gap is now at 15 points. Andreas Mikkelsen will compete at the season finale as his programme includes his participation on tarmac events in order to support his teammates and to score points for his team. Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Toyota is on the backfoot to defend their manufacturers' title, bit for sure one Hyundai driver will be crowned as the 2024 WRC Champion.
"The nerves were very high before coming here", Abiteboul said.
"Leading both championships also means that it was possible to lose a lot.
"We tried the best we could to balance the expectations and priorities between the crews and between the championship battle, but it was always going to be very difficult to play correctly.
"With Sunday’s excellent team result, we know that a Hyundai Motorsport crew will win the 2024 WRC drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles.
"This was our primary target from the start of the season, so we are naturally delighted that we will be celebrating this together in Japan.
"We will give full support to both Thierry and Ott as they take on the final round of the season, but we want to make sure we also finish strongly as a team.
"The manufacturers’ title fight is still close so we must as a team all be on our A-game in Japan to give Toyota the hardest time possible in their backyard!"
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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