To be honest, at that time, we knew we wouldn’t be competitive the first year.
We retired very early in the race.
The first season was really challenging.
It was difficult in some whole, but also we got some really nice results as well.
It gave us the motivation to push even harder.
We know a bit better. Our car is working.
The team is quite well-trained. Why not a podium?
2015 was a critical year.
Confidence in their abilities would be their driving force.
The team feels that they have adapted well,
but the WRC is unforgiving.
2015 was the toughest.
I felt like… I was missing something.
But the people showed great commitment and never gave up.
They were determined,
and their results continued to show improvement.
Okay. Now we can really focus on being competitive.
Hyundai Motorsport was evolving.
A brand new season full of opportunity and hope was drawing near.
December 2015, Alzenau, Germany,
Hyundai revealed their new i20 for the 2016 season.
Actually, I was waiting this moment now to present the new car,
and finally to know I will drive the car soon.
Huge development has been done. The team is competitive now.
The new i20 debuted at the 2016 Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Throughout the rally, Thierry Neuville pushed his car to its limits.
And the result?
A third place podium finish.
The season is off to a good start.
The new i20 was stable and fast.
Expectations for the 2016 season were growing.
You win when you find the fine tune.
To find the fine tune, you need time.
We start to get on the good results from 2016 on.
The rally leader is about a couple of clicks away from being crowned the rally winner.
And here it is. At the end of rally Sardegna,
Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul shake on it.
It was necessary for us to show some speed.
Very comfortable. Everybody was pulling in the right direction in the team.
And this makes life much easier for us, so we really enjoyed.
The team was really starting to get together in 2016,
and since the car’s performance continued to improve,
the goal became taking home the championship.
High performance hinges on the driver’s confidence in his car.
A reliable car provides the confidence to maximize performance.
Still, accidents big and small began to occur.
Sometimes mistakes were made due to a lack of experience.
Other times, unpredictable variables were the cause.
Obviously, this is a big loss for the team,
and it’ll take a lot of work for them to come back and build a new car.
I’m just really sorry for them.
But the team wasn’t discouraged.
They set to work to repair the car.
They put their trust into each other, gaining experience along the way.
As they got deeper into 2016,
the team found themselves standing on the podium more often.
They took 2nd place in the Manufacturer’s Championship.
Hyundai Motorsport’s star was rising.
With an aggressive exterior and cutting-edge technology,
the Hyundai Motorsport’s secret weapon,
the 3rd generation i20, the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, was revealed.
It was a new car, a new challenge.
It was much more high-tech in the car.
The differentials have changed from mechanical to more hydraulic control differentials.
The engine power increased.
World-class rallying requires world-class technical know-how,
so they must think outside the box and reimagine what a rally car is.
With each generation, we always asked, 'How can we lower the car’s center of gravity?'
This was an important question that required resources.
After about 2 or 3 years, you are getting
almost the maximum performance out of the car.
Let’s say 98%. We can only get about 2% more, but the final 2% is extremely difficult to attain.
We test and assess repeatedly
to get that last 1 or 2 horsepower out of the engine.
Every advantage must be fought for
to survive in a ruthless environment like the WRC.
This is the crucible through which Hyundai has forged a new paradigm.
Hyundai N Brand.
Focused on giving drivers a direct feel for the road
with maximum stability and performance
over any surface and under any conditions.
WRC developers transition to high performance.
High performance transitions to mass-market.
It’s already a cyclical industry.
The beginning of 2017 for the improved Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
This year is a special year because the new rules reglementation
with the car is more power, a little bit more aerodynamic.
So, we will be really excited.
The 2017 WRC team lineup had some major changes.
Volkswagen would not participate,
and Toyota was returning after 18 years.
Hyundai Motorsport returned with renewed vigor.
Having gone head-to-head with more experienced teams,
they now competed as equals.
During the 2017 season,
Hyundai Motorsport set many records for stage times over their rivals.
Although less experienced, they had a fast car and talented drivers,
but most of all, they had teamwork.
Hyundai Motorsport soon became the center of attention of the WRC.
But rival teams don’t give up so easily.
We wanted to win the world championship,
but it was always close and was difficult
because the competitors, they had more experience, and they were quite strong.
M-Sport gained 35 Manufacturer's Championship points
extending their lead over Hyundai to 40 overall.
Ogier claimed victory by 15.6 seconds.
M-Sport is the world champions with Hyundai placing second.
Why couldn’t we take the championship this year?
Why couldn’t we win in 2016?
Why couldn’t we win in 2017?
We were so close. What was the 1% we lacked?
“Let’s find it” was the dominant mindset in the room.
In the middle of the season,
Hyundai Motorsport signed Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished 3rd in the 2016 drivers’ championship.
They were pushing for the championship.
Everything is new, so I’m trying to get into things.
I feel comfortable starting the rally.
I’m really pumped to get going with Hyundai.
After finishing 2nd in the Manufacturer’s Championship for two years in a row,
the desire to take first place in 2018 was strong.
Spirits were high for the Hyundai Motorsport team early in the season in Sweden.
In 3rd place, representing Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team,
Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger.
Andreas has adapted well to his new team.
It’s my first podium with Hyundai, and that feels really, really nice.
Overall, I am quite happy with the weekend, and we are back in the championship.
Feeling for the future was very positive.
Everybody was committed. Everybody was willing to do the job properly.
Future can only be good in that situation.
Persistence and competitiveness culminated in the results of 2018.
The best finish since the team’s founding.
Great results on a variety of surfaces.
Finishing on the podium 3 times in a row,
Hyundai Motorsport maintains 1st place in the Manufacturer’s Championship.
The team has come together at last.
Here is the battle for victory.
Tänak’s time is fast,
so Neuville will want to at least match him.
Oh, he's on two wheels.
Amazing. He's able to recover that
and he still looks focused and still looks committed.
Remember, Friday, when he ripped his Hyundai apart
pushing for a time at the end of the day,
this could end the same way.
Not far to go now. Time to watch the clock.
The man is on a mission here.
There's no room left for error.
And he’s faster than Tänak, minus the mirror.
Sébastien Ogier lost out to Neuville
by 1.8 seconds on the first pass of this stage this morning.
He has lost just three seconds all day,
but that's how close we're talking here.
A couple of blinks of the eye.
He's been fractionally down on the splits
but would still have it in hand at the line.
What about, though, the finishing line?
Oh, he's slower. Too slow.
Ogier’s lost out by 0.7 of a second overall.
Fractions of a second can make a big difference in rallying.
Sebastian Ogier was ahead of 2nd place Thierry Neuville by 3.9 seconds,
but at the finish line, Thierry took 1st place by a mere 0.7 seconds.
So small difference, but it went well,
we kept fighting.
Thanks to the team again.
They are the best. Thank you.
Thierry Neuville’s driving was amazing,
but the win would have been impossible without the team.
At Rally Italia Sardegna, Thierry and Hyundai Motorsport
each took 1st place in the Driver’s and Manufacturer’s series respectively.
But Toyota was right on their heels.
With back to back wins for Toyota, Hyundai’s 1st place was at risk.
Pursuit can be less stressful than leading.
And having little experience at the front of the pack,
the team began to make mistakes.
They started to feel the pressure.
Everything changed at the technically challenging Spain rally.
The constantly changing surfaces took a toll on the drivers.
A tricky day for us. A little bit tired now
because we gave the maximum all day.
Hopefully we will have a strong day tomorrow, and hopefully we catch back some positions.
The mood was grim at the Hyundai camp.
In the end, they fell to 2nd place in the Manufacturer’s series.
The last rally of 2018, Australia.
Thierry Neuville is in 2nd place, behind by 3 points.
Hyundai Motorsport is also in 2nd place, behind Toyota by 12 points.
Fans from all over the world wondered if there would be a dramatic finish to the season.
The competitors have to battle over gravel, sand, and mud.
The final matchup between Hyundai and Toyota.
On rough surfaces, rhythm is very important.
A small stone can be the difference between winning and losing.
The start was smooth.
Then, in the 22nd stage, it was lost.
Thierry’s efforts on the slippery road
were not enough to prevent an accident that destroyed his suspension.
What is this not mean for your championship chances?
I have no idea.
The wind has left the sails
of Thierry and the team’s championship hopes.
To make matters even worse, Andreas also crashes.
It forced him to retire from the rally.
Fortune was not with the team this day.
There was a tractor in the middle of the road,
and we passed it, and I started to talk with Anders about it
and took some concentration away from driving fast,
and then the next left hand corner, we were braking a little bit too late.
New Zealand’s Haydon Paddon continued to battle to the finish.
Hayden Paddon is now set for a runner up finish.
It’s been a difficult season in and out of the car for the New Zealander,
but at least finishing 2018 on a high.
The Hyundai man will do his future prospects no harm.
Hayden finished 2nd in the Rally Australia.
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul
finished the 2018 season in 2nd place in the Drivers’ Championship.
For the Manufacturers’ Championship, Hyundai Motorsport finished 2nd.
The championship may have been lost, but they know it is within reach.
We’ve done good strategy, and we pushed. We were good.
Obviously, we weren’t able to get the Manufacturers’,
but still, we’ll take away this result.
It was a difficult weekend for us in the end.
Not the result we were looking for,
but I think we showed some potential
and come back strong in 2019.
Hyundai Motorsport recorded back to back 2nd place finishes
in the Manufacturer’s Championship in 2017 and 2018.
Fans supported and appreciated their surprising success.
In Germany, in Korea, and at the rally stages,
the dedication and expertise of the team members
helped Hyundai Motorsport to grow strong.
Now, they are ready to win a championship.