WRC Rally Portugal
Hyundai’s plan to help Tanak unlock potential from WRC car
Hyundai has “some ideas” it will test this month to help Ott Tanak unlock the potential from its World Rally Championship challenger, according to team principal Cyril Abiteboul.
Tom Howard
Published: May 21, 2024, 1:44 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Tanak has struggled to adjust to the i20 N Rally1 following his return to the Korean manufacturer this season but showed signs he’s made a stride forward by challenging for victory in Portugal earlier this month.
Tanak was able to find a way to drive around his set-up struggles on Portugal’s gravel roads to finish a season’s best second, 7.9s adrift of rally winner Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier. Tanak, who sits 31 points adrift of team-mate and championship leader Thierry Neuville, felt he could have won the rally had he avoided a puncture on stage 13.
Hyundai boss Abiteboul was encouraged by Tanak’s performance but believes there is more the team can do to tailor the car more to his liking for the remainder of the season. Hyundai is also yet to decide how it will deploy its remaining homologation jokers for 2024.
“I’m happy with his [Tanak’s] performance as we are opening stint of seven rallies with a similar profile, so the fact, that not always but on occasions, he was feeling good with the car does show that we can expect something good from him in the following rounds,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
“Having said that he has given us a clear direction of what he wants to change and again that is what we want. From an engineering side, it is good to have a new perspective and angle on things on what we need to do, and we will endeavour to do that as soon as possible.
“We have some ideas, there is indeed some limitation, but we have some ideas, and we will be testing some stuff in relation to that, and maybe for introduction this year.
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“We still need to confirm exactly the two jokers that we want to use for this year, so we have some leeway there.
“I think what is interesting that Thierry has been able to drive around those limitations and I think by doing so does cost him a bit of speed, and the fact that Ott is saying that he cannot do what Thierry is doing, there is something not quite right with the car. By helping Ott I also believe he can help Thierry unlock an extra step.”
Abiteboul believes that Tanak is not suffering from a lack of confidence and commitment and that the onus is on the team to extract the best out of its driver.
“It is not just him building his confidence he doesn’t lack confidence or commitment it is about us coming with the mechanical solutions, so he has a better feeling for how the car is going to respond,” he added.
The WRC continues with a visit to Sardinia next week, which will feature a new 48-hour itinerary concept.
Read Also:
WRCWRC's 2025 rule change will create “pretty crap” car - Hyundai's Abiteboul
WRCHas the WRC finally turned a corner in its promotion pursuit?
Tanak has struggled to adjust to the i20 N Rally1 following his return to the Korean manufacturer this season but showed signs he's made a stride forward by challenging for victory in Portugal earlier this month.
Tanak was able to find a way to drive around his set-up struggles on Portugal's gravel roads to finish a season's best second, 7.9s adrift of rally winner Toyota's Sebastien Ogier. Tanak, who sits 31 points adrift of team-mate and championship leader Thierry Neuville, felt he could have won the rally had he avoided a puncture on stage 13.
Hyundai boss Abiteboul was encouraged by Tanak's performance but believes there is more the team can do to tailor the car more to his liking for the remainder of the season. Hyundai is also yet to decide how it will deploy its remaining homologation jokers for 2024.
"I'm happy with his [Tanak's] performance as we are opening stint of seven rallies with a similar profile, so the fact, that not always but on occasions, he was feeling good with the car does show that we can expect something good from him in the following rounds," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
"Having said that he has given us a clear direction of what he wants to change and again that is what we want. From an engineering side, it is good to have a new perspective and angle on things on what we need to do, and we will endeavour to do that as soon as possible.
"We have some ideas, there is indeed some limitation, but we have some ideas, and we will be testing some stuff in relation to that, and maybe for introduction this year.
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
"We still need to confirm exactly the two jokers that we want to use for this year, so we have some leeway there.
"I think what is interesting that Thierry has been able to drive around those limitations and I think by doing so does cost him a bit of speed, and the fact that Ott is saying that he cannot do what Thierry is doing, there is something not quite right with the car. By helping Ott I also believe he can help Thierry unlock an extra step."
Abiteboul believes that Tanak is not suffering from a lack of confidence and commitment and that the onus is on the team to extract the best out of its driver.
"It is not just him building his confidence he doesn't lack confidence or commitment it is about us coming with the mechanical solutions, so he has a better feeling for how the car is going to respond," he added.
The WRC continues with a visit to Sardinia next week, which will feature a new 48-hour itinerary concept.
Read Also:
WRCWRC's 2025 rule change will create "pretty crap" car - Hyundai's Abiteboul
WRCHas the WRC finally turned a corner in its promotion pursuit?
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article WRC's 2025 rule change will create “pretty crap” car - Hyundai's Abiteboul
Next article Inside Hyundai's rally-meets-Nurburgring challenge
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tom Howard
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
WRC
WRC 1 d
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
WRC
WRC 3 d
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
More from
Ott Tanak
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
WRC
WRC 10 d
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
WRC
WRC 2 mo
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
More from
Hyundai Motorsport
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
WRC
WRC 21 d
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
WRC
WRC 1 mo
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 13 min
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
7 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe