Hyundai Motorsport boss Michel Nandan has paid tribute to his team after it secured its best WRC result to date at the 74th Rally Poland.
Hyundai scored its third victory of the season last weekend, with Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon securing the team’s first 1-2 since ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2014.
Dani Sordo completed the rally in fourth place, making it the most successful combined result for Hyundai since it joined the championship in 2014.
Hyundai also set a new personal best for stage wins, taking 12 fastest times from the 22 contested stages in Poland.
“This is a really important result for us as a team, especially in terms of our championship objectives,”Nandan said.
“More than that, though, it shows what we can achieve as a team when we are all on top of our game. Everyone has performed fantastically this weekend, and this 1-2 result is for all of our employees in Alzenau.”
Hyundai has reasserted its title intentions in the manufacturers’ championship, reducing the gap on leaders M-Sport from 40 to 22 points, while Neuville slashed Sébastien Ogier’s drivers’ championship lead to 11 points.
But as the championship enters a crucial phase, with five rounds remaining, Nandan denied he was feeling the pressure.
“I think we have no more pressure than normal,” he said. “Everybody has to do his job and we have development work in progress. When you are doing the championship you have to be careful not to do any mistakes.”
“We will see, for sure, some nice battles again. Since the beginning of the season, everything has been quite close. I hope it continues to the end of the year.”
