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Hyundai Motorsport customers continue to showcase the capabilities of their cars on the national and international level, with i30 N TCR teams taking wins on their debuts, and i20 R5 crews challenging for top stage times around the world.
Lifeline is an offical supplier to Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and supports both the i20 R5 and i30 TCR programs with it's leading range of FIA Homologated Safety Equipment.
Hyundai Motorsport customer results round-up bulletin
- i30 N TCR customers lead the FIA World Touring
Car Cup (WTCR) points’ standings after taking two wins on a
sensational opening weekend to the brand new championship
- Hyundai America supported team Bryan Herta
Autosport finished 1st and 2nd in both
Pirelli World Challenge races at the Circuit of the Americas on
the TCR category’s debut in the series
- i20 R5 crews celebrate victories in France and
Spain after a busy few weeks for Hyundai Motorsport customers.
i30 N TCR makes
history at WTCR opener
Hyundai i30 N TCR customer teams lead the FIA World Touring Car Cup
(WTCR) points after a spectacular performance across the opening three
races of the brand new championship at the Race of Morocco (April 7-8).
With two wins from the weekend, as well as the five points on offer for
taking pole position from Sunday’s qualifying session, BRC Racing Team
driver Gabriele Tarquini leads the championship.
Having already taken victory in Saturday’s historic first race around
the Marrakech street circuit Tarquini led four i30 N TCR to lock-out
the front two rows of the grid in the weekend’s second qualifying
session, with his BRC teammate Norbert Michelisz and the pair of Yvan
Muller Racing cars lining up behind him. After a battling Race 2, where
their stellar one-lap pace put them at the back of a reversed top-ten,
the Hyundai-running teams returned to the front for the finale.
Tarquini led from lights to flag to earn his way onto the top step of
the podium ahead of the two YMR entered drivers, led by Team Manager
Yvan Muller. Unaffected by the brake issues that dogged rival
manufacturers thought the weekend, despite the series’ Balance of
Performance regulations making the i30 N TCR one of the heaviest cars
on the grid, the teams hold a handsome lead in the standings.
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Double 1-2 from Pirelli World Challenge debut
The sensational debut on the world stage completed an incredible few
weeks for i30 N TCR customers. Opening the Pirelli World Challenge
season at the Circuit of the Americas (March 24-25) in Texas, Bryan
Herta Autosport dominated the first event for the TCR category in the
championship. Drivers Mark Wilkins and Michael Lewis swept the front
row in qualifying for the Hyundai America backed team – beginning their
first season in touring cars - and then went on to take 1-2 results in
both races, with each man taking a victory in a perfect start to their
campaign.
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TCR class podium on first Nordschleife run
The same weekend a pair of Hyundai N entered i30 N TCR took on the
Nürburgring Nordschleife in the first round of the VLN championship.
Despite being left facing the wrong way at the very first corner of the
four-hour race Tarquini and Korean driver Jae Kyun Kim fought back to
finish third in a very competitive TCR class on the incredibly
demanding 25km circuit. The experienced pairing of Nicola Larini and
Manuel Lauck also fought back after problems early in the running,
after Larini slid off track on oil dropped by a competitor and damaged
the right-rear corner against the barrier. The team was able to repair
the car, returning the pairing to the action for a sixth
placed finish in class.
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Young driver shows i30 N TCR pace in TCR UK
With Lewis Kent and his Essex & Kent Motorsport team the i30 N TCR
was part of the first weekend of the TCR UK championship at Silverstone
(March 31-April 1). One of the youngest drivers in the series Kent
qualified a very impressive fourth fastest in mixed conditions.
Unfortunately, a minor issue during race day kept him from converting
his pace into a deserved result. However, his pace on a single lap gave
a signal of intent for his first season in the TCR category.
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French crews among the top times on Tour de Corse
Two i20 R5 crews lined up at the start of the Tour de Corse (April
5-8). Both Pierre-Louis Loubet and Nicolas Ciamin showed their pace,
challenging for top times against the more experienced, manufacturer
backed crews in the championship. Unfortunately, despite the obvious
speed shown by both car and crew combinations minor mistakes on the
famously demanding Corsican stages led to both teams losing time and
positions in the overall standings.
Twice Loubet and co-driver Vincent Landais were second fastest among
the WRC2 crews, including on the penultimate stage, a mammoth 55km
test, proving the talent of the young French motorsport federation
backed driver and the performance of the i20 R5. Ciamin was able to
record the same result to end Saturday’s stages before an accident on
Sunday morning forced him out of the running.
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Hungarian crews reap rewards for consistent runs
The Hungarian crew of Ádám Velenczei and Csaba Szedő returned to their
national championship for a second season in Korda Racing’s i20 R5. A
consistent run through the stages of the Eger Rallye (March 23-25) gave
the pair a fifth place finish to begin their season. Lovász Pál, aboard
his own LPWM Sport entered i20 R5, made a similarly consistent start to
the season, finishing in 14th overall.
Pál was back in competition in Austria at the Lavanttal Rallye (April
7-8), the second round of the Mitropa Cup competition, as well as the
third event of the domestic championship. Alongside Tamás Kürti he
narrowly missed out on a top-ten overall to finish fourth in the Cup
competition that includes rallies across central Europe.
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Hyundai Portugal backed crew bags points from the Azores
Fourth place was also the result for Carlos Vieira and Jorge Eduardo
Carvalho as they continued their Portuguese championship season at the
Azores Rallye. The Hyundai Portugal supported crew battled against the
difficult conditions, as well as the large entry at the event, which
was also the first round of the European Rally Championship, to take a
good haul of points from the event to maintain their challenge for the
national title.
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Sarrazin Motorsport crews take French national honours
Sarrazin Motorsport customers Quentin Giordano and Nicolas Ciamin
recorded France Cup wins on back-to-back weekends. Giordano dominated
the Rallye National Epernay Vins de Champagne (March 24-25), winning
seven of the first day’s eight stages. He and co-driver Yannick Roche
were then able to measure their pace on day two – though they added
another top time – to take victory by over a minute.
The following weekend Ciamin and Thibault de le Haye performed a
similar feat at the Rallye National Pays de Grasse - Fleurs et Parfums
(March 30-31). The pair took overall victory by more than two minutes
after winning six stages on event, as they prepared for the Tour de Corse.
Brice Tirabassi added further to the domestic success of the i20 R5 in
France, with third in the R5 category at the Rallye Terre des Causses
(March 31-April 1), the first round of this year’s French Gravel
championship. Tirabassi and Loïc Declerck set the best time among the
R5 crews on two stages on his way to claiming sixth overall to go with
their class podium.
Overall victory
in the Canaries
There was also success in the Canary Islands for Antonio Ponce and
Rubén González on the Rally Ciudad de Telde (April 6-7). Running with
the local Hyundai importer the duo were in the top-three throughout the
rally, before taking the overall lead on the penultimate stage and
sealing victory with the best time to complete the event.
i20 R5 crew take
stage wins in Italy and Denmark
i20 R5 customers also made their seasonal debuts in the national
championship in Italy and Denmark. Both drivers, Andrea Nucita running
with the Bernini Rally team at the Rally Il Ciocco e Valle del Serchio
(March 23-24) and Jacob Madsen aboard a Fruilmotor owned chassis in the
Horsens Rally (March 31) were able to set stage winning times on the
tarmac stages to lead busy R5-class entry lists. Both, however, were
forced out of their respective events after incidents on stage, Madsen
having to forfeit second position on his debut in the car.
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Hyundai
Motorsport Customer Racing Deputy General Manager Andrea Adamo said: “For i30 N TCR customers to be
leading the FIA WTCR standings after the first weekend is an enormous
achievement both for them and for Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing.
We have seen in Morocco, as well as in America that the i30 N TCR is an
incredibly competitive package in the category. Now we must work to
support them through the season ahead to enable them to maintain that
performance throughout the season. Of course, we must do this alongside
our continued work with our i20 R5 customers with our dedicated
customer engineers offering both race and rally teams all they need to
compete for victories.”
-Ends-
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