When you start the season, you always want to win.
When you are second two times or three times,
you want more than that.
Having been so close to becoming champions,
the thirst to win intensified.
The only goal for 2019 was to take the Manufacturers’ Championship.
The battle lines were drawn.
New Team Principal, Andrea Adamo
What I’m seeing in Hyundai
is more passion and respect to what I’ve seen in others.
The team also acquired another secret weapon,
the legendary Sébastien Loeb,
9 times World Champion.
It will be tricky, difficult, but I’m motivated.
With the hiring of a new management and a superstar driver,
Hyundai Motorsport has made their move for 2019.
We’ve been two times so near to achieve our goal.
This year will be our year.
Success in 2019 can only have one outcome.
The stage is set.
The twisting and turning mountain roads of Monte Carlo.
Hyundai Motorsport may have set its sights on the championship,
but other teams also have eyes on the prize.
Loeb uses his experience to bring a winning attitude to his new team.
4th place. For good team points.
Thierry Neuville, the last but one driver
Neuville, making every effort.
Thierry crossed the finish in 2nd place.
Not the top of the podium, but a good start to the season.
We are not really satisfied with second place.
We were so close to win Rallye Monte-Carlo for the first time.
We gave it everything, we believe.
Earning 30 points for the Manufacturer's Championship,
Hyundai Motorsport has a good start to the season.
No one had a clear advantage to start the 2019 Rally Sweden.
Thierry’s aggressiveness was noticeable,
recording the fastest time in the first stage.
This was the type of start the team needed,
until a sudden crash halts the momentum.
Competitors took advantage of the opportunity,
with drivers swapping positions rapidly.
Yes. Another stage win.
The Power Stage win: Tänak’s Toyota
Hyundai Motorsport took another podium in 3rd place,
but rival manufacturers have overtaken them.
Tänak's win gains him driver's points,
but it also pushes his Toyota team a single point ahead of Hyundai
in the Manufacturers’ Championship.
The brutal off-road course of the Rally México.
Hyundai Motorsport is in good spirits,
staying near the top of the leaderboard in the first stages.
Then, things began to unravel.
And worse was to follow for Hyundai with high flying Dani Sordo
grounded by an alternator failure.
Thierry was not immune to misfortune.
A punctured tire prevented him clocking a good time.
Andreas sustained suspension damage.
It caused him to retire for the day.
In the Manufacturer’s standings, Toyota extended their lead,
but now that lead is over ‎Citroën
as Hyundai drops to 3rd.
The notorious “10,000 Turns” of the Tour de Corse.
The narrow winding mountain roads have caused terrible accidents in the past.
The Tour de Corse marks the 1/3 point of the 2019 season.
Hyundai Motorsport has fallen to 3rd place.
If they are to challenge the Championship, they must make a stand here.
It’s a technical rally with very different kinds of roads.
Some bumpy places, some very fast sections also.
It’s interesting. You need to find the right rhythm all the time.
From the outset of the rally, competition was fierce.
Thierry and Dani held 3rd and 4th place
through the initial stages.
Free of errors, Thierry takes over 1st place on the leaderboard.
However, M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans is hot on his tail.
Even a small mistake could cost a position.
Thierry Neuville was struggling.
He was struggling to keep up, keep up at all.
Neuville had leaked 16 massive seconds. That was heaps.
Thierry, my goodness. The time’s not there… What’s happened?
I don’t know.
Does the car feel okay?
Yeah, but moving a lot, moving a lot.
I was moving a lot, and I couldn’t go any faster.
Neuville’s lead has been smashed,
and Evans, now at the front by over 11 seconds.
Last, but one around the coast road.
Last night's leader, Thierry Neuville.
What had he achieved? He’d have to wait.
One crew is left out there, and here he came.
But then, what was that?
A square meter of missing road! It had punctured Elfyn’s tire.
The wheel, the front right, down to the rim,
the Fiesta slowed.
The win was Thierry’s!
Reducing mistakes,
Continuing to battle; to concentrate on finishing.
This is how wins are made.
We built the team from the scratch,
improved the experience, human resource.
We put ourselves in question.
We built a strong team.
With a victory, Neuville overtakes Ogier
as a championship leader by two points.
In the Manufacturer's standings,
Hyundai jumps to first place,
12 points ahead of ‎Citroën who remains in second place.
The joy of winning Corsica carried over into Argentina.
Hyundai Motorsport controlled the pace throughout the rally.
It was a showcase of their precision and skill.
Is this rally winning consistency from Thierry Neuville?
If Corsica was a gift,
Argentina he had grabbed early.
With such performances, the championship was within their grasp.
Thierry Neuville's second victory of the season
extends his Drivers’ Championship lead to more than 10 points.
Hyundai also takes a 37 point lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship
with their cars taking first and second place in the rally.
2019 marked the first official WRC rally in Chile.
It was hard to know what to expect from an unfamiliar course.
To be honest, we don’t know much about Rally Chile.
It’s a complete new rally for us. Nobody has ever been.
It’s going to be a bit of a surprise, but it’s a nice challenge for us.
A lot of work is waiting for us, but we are looking forward to it.
Second stage of the rally after reconnaissance.
Thierry, in 6th place, has been cautious,
but has now begun his attack, moving up to 3rd.
He took 1st in the third stage, shaking the confidence of the Toyota drivers.
Could this be too much good luck?
We did the recce of these stages in the fog really slowly.
It means that it was really too slow
to really estimate properly the angle of the turn.
Unfortunately, we arrived much faster than we expected.
The corner turned more than what we had in the pace notes.
Tout va… tout va bien? (Is everything alright?)
Ça va, Ça va. (Yeah, I’m ok)
Chile was probably one of the biggest crashes in my career.
Good fortune suddenly became a dire situation for the team.
The Hyundai Motorsport team was excited to be pushing for a win,
but now they had to re-focus on fixing a badly damaged car.
When I saw the car coming back,
me personally, after a moment, I was almost losing myself.
Watching the car at that moment was not at all… not a nice view.
Teams know that crashes are a reality of rallying,
but it is still disheartening for everyone.
The car was really destroyed.
From that car, we saved nothing. Absolutely nothing.
To be honest, I was not sure if the drivers were so well.
After a visit to the hospital, Thierry returned to the service park.
The team was relieved, and thankful, to see him without any major injuries.
It’s good to see that both Nicolas and me are fine.
I mean the car was really strong also and saved us in that situation.
Every time you get knocked down,
you stand up again, stronger than before.
We feel safe in the car. That’s the main thing.
We are not afraid to do what we do.
It’s part of our job.
We are competitors, so we want to fight for good results.
The team was desperate, and the veteran Sébastien Loeb was steady.
Loeb, 3.3 seconds quicker than the best so far.
Sébastien Loeb could barely have asked for more
in his first gravel event in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
The first podium with the South Korean manufacturer.
It may have been his first time on this course,
but Sébastien is a legend for a reason.
It’s nice to be on the podium with Hyundai for the first time.
We had to score some points for the Manufacturers’ Championship this weekend.
That was my job, and we did it.
Sébastien knew what he had to do to help his team.
His veteran leadership kept his team at the top of the standings.
Good to see we are back 100%.
Our car looks normal again. The guys have done good jobs.
Now we are looking forward to do actual race,
which is going to be difficult, but we’re going to try to enjoy it.
Regaining confidence after a crash is critical.
Without confidence, you can’t push the limits of the car.
To be honest, mentally, not a lot.
Physically, more than I expected, to be honest,
because it took some time to recover,
but mentally, we came back in Portugal without hesitating.
We knew we didn’t feel affected,
but always you need to confirm.
Thierry’s upbeat run.
He seemed to gain even more confidence with each turn.
Heat reduces the output of the engine,
and Toyota seemed to be surging.
Sébastien and Dani began to lag,
but just as Sébastien supported the team in Chile,
it was Thierry’s turn to focus on the finish.
Thierry comes in 2nd.
This was a huge confidence boost for Thierry.
Overall, a good weekend for us, maybe not the best for Hyundai,
but finally we were still able to not lose many points in the Manufacturer’s Championship.
Optimizing all our chances to get a good result,
and that was important, P2 at the end.
Over 30 degree temperatures at Rally Italia Sardegna
took a toll on both drivers and car.
Ah… Nicolas
This frustrating side of the road caused by a rare misread
pace note from Nicolas Gilsoul.
Another 14 seconds slipping away…
the two-time Sardegna winner.
This time, Dani Sordo would come to the team’s rescue.
Dani Sordo must’ve imagined
he’d be handed a 26th trophy.
The rally win. It had gone to Hyundai.
This is Dani’s first win since joining Hyundai Motorsport.
When we take the win, it was amazing.
I think now I’m a little bit lost. I’m really happy. I’m proud of my team.
Andreas finished 3rd giving Hyundai Motorsport
another double podium in Italy.
They now take a more comfortable lead over second.
Toyota, however, was not backing down
continuing their relentless pursuit.
Toyota, with two cars finishing on the podium,
cuts Hyundai’s lead from 44 to 24 points.
The competition for the championship title between Toyota and Hyundai
has become more fierce.
Toyota was not giving an inch.
Within 8 points now, there would be a sprint to the finish.
Rally de España is unique in the WRC
for having both asphalt and gravel surfaces in one course.
Neuville. Fast.
Mr. Catalunya himself, Seb Loeb.
The time looks good.
About to win the last stage of Friday.
Hyundai Motorsport finishes the day
having taken first, second, and third place.
Tomorrow’s stage is on asphalt,
and the team has only 75 minutes to change the car’s setup.
The mechanics make every effort to do their part perfectly.
Once the car is out, they can take a breath.
Now, it’s in the drivers’ hands.
They must adjust to the car’s new settings.
Hyundai Motorsport’s drivers adapt quickly.
Neuville. So fast in here on Saturday morning.
A mixture of pleasure and pain for Thierry Neuville,
with 15 seconds in hand, but with his teammate Sordo behind,
no one would steal the rally win from him at this point.
Neuville’s 12th career win,
and lots of points for that Manufacturers’ title race.
Thierry Neuville 1st place, Dani Sordo 3rd place,
and with the cancellation of the last rally of 2019 in Australia,
Hyundai Motorsport has at last taken
the Manufacturers’ Championship title.
To win the world championship title was like we are on the top of the world.
We are the best.
In every department in this factory, they have been working really hard.
It was beyond the result what this team is doing since the very beginning.
This journey was a serious test of our spirit.
This is the start of the Hyundai Motorsport legend.
We will keep winning.
The history of Hyundai Motorsport will now be newly written.