The first stage of the afternoon brought plenty of surprises for the drivers, with the previously muddy and low grip stage now dry and abrasive. However, the biggest surprise of all came in the form of Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jari-Matti Latvala crashing out of the stage.
At just over 11km into the stage, Latvala is reported to have rolled his Polo R WRC after going wide on a corner, hitting a rock-face and then being forced into a roll. Causing him to retire from the stage, it also put an end to his charge on Sebastien Ogier.
Ogier went on to win the stage, collecting his fourth stage win of the day, further cementing his lead despite the rapidly changing conditions and abrasive conditions.
Mikko Hirvonen completed the stage some five seconds behind Ogier, a time that would have been better had he not been hampered by his rapidly deteriorating soft compound tyres.
Ott Tanak brought his Fiesta RS WRC over the finish in the third fastest time, 1.4 seconds behind Hirvonen. Like many other drivers, he too had opted for soft tyres, which he described as being “completely the wrong decision.”
In WRC2 Nasser Al-Attiyah took the stage win in his Fiesta RRC S2000.
Also on soft tyres, he felt the stage was good and didn’t have any of the mechanical issues from earlier in the day.
Hyundai Motorsport has today announced Finnish driver Juho Hänninen as one of the team’s test drivers for 2013, ending weeks of speculation over the mystery man behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC in May.
Hyundai Motorsport has been building up its new operation from scratch since the start of the year, establishing the team at a dedicated facility in Alzenau, Germany and recruiting specialists at every level of its organisation.
Test drivers are an integral part of the team’s development programme, requiring the necessary skills and experience to develop a competitive and reliable rally car in a short space of time.
Six months ahead of the debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January 2014, Hyundai Motorsport is in the process of carrying out an intensive test programme to evaluate and develop the i20 WRC on all terrains and conditions.
Hänninen won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2010 followed by the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship and the FIA European Rally Championship titles in 2011 and 2012 respectively. He will be a valuable asset for the team to prepare the assault to the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship.
Hyundai Motorsport will soon be in a position to announce a second test driver for the remainder of the 2013 test phase. 2014 drivers will be announced at the end of the year.
Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “We’re very pleased to welcome Juho on board for our 2013 test programme. I’m sure his experience and background will contribute to the project and I’m happy with the job he’s done so far.
We have decided to work with different drivers with unique skills and capabilities this year, which will provide us with valuable feedback for 2014.
Hänninen said: “I’m delighted to be part of the Hyundai Motorsport testing programme for this year. It’s a fantastic opportunity to work closely to a manufacturer and to give my contribution to this great challenge.
The first run with the i20 WRC was quite positive for me; I’m very impressed with the work the team has done so far in such an incredibly short space of time. I feel comfortable with everyone in the team and I look forward to carry on working with them in the next six months.”