Ypres Rally Belgium

• Hyundai Motorsport holds a provisional 1-2 in Ypres Rally Belgium after an epic opening day of action on the first tarmac event of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since April
• Local heroes Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe bounced back from a tricky opening stage to move into a 2.5 second lead over team-mates Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja
• The team totalled six stage wins from the eight tests, including a joint win for Neuville/Tänak in SS5 (Vleteren 2) and three 1-2s for the Hyundai i20 N Rally1.

Ypres, Belgium

August 19, 2022 – Hyundai Motorsport holds a provisional 1-2 at the end of the opening day of Ypres Rally Belgium, round nine of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and the first full-tarmac event since Croatia Rally back in April.

The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 has looked in competitive shape on the narrow, twisty Ypres roads with the home crew – and last year’s winners – Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe topping the classification after eight of the weekend’s 20 scheduled stages. The Belgian pair holds a 2.5-second lead over team-mates Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja, victors of the previous round in Finland. The two crews claimed six stage wins between them, including three 1-2s.

Friday’s compact itinerary covered fewer than 100 kilometres of special stages across two loops around Ypres. Starting with Vleteren (SS1/SS5, 11.97km), crews had to acclimatise to tarmac roads after five consecutive gravel rallies. The schedule moved quickly onto Westouter-Boeschepe (SS2/SS6, 19.60km) – the longest stage of the day – Mesen-Middelhoek (SS3/SS7, 7.99km) and Langemark (SS4/SS8, 8.95km). The loop was repeated after a lunchtime service with the team making effective use of its weather crew to keep an eye on unpredictable skies with rain conditions threatening to fall at any time.

Neuville fought back from a troubled opening stage, in which he lost over ten seconds, to take the outright lead of his home rally in a closely contested top-three. He amassed five stage wins over the course of the day, with Tänak continuing his strong form onto tarmac with two fastest times. The Hyundai Motorsport drivers shared the honours in SS5.   

Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from a disappointing Rally Finland, as the crew learn the Ypres roads in a Rally1 car for the first time. They settled into a rhythm to end Friday’s running in seventh overall, with a top-five time in the afternoon loop underlining their progress.

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Strong afternoon loop for the home crew saw them move from third into the lead
• Five stage wins, including one equal with Tänak, saw them take a 2.5 second advantage

Neuville said: “It has definitely been a close day, but I have been much happier with the handling of the car in this afternoon’s loop after a tricky morning. The grip was lower than expected first thing and the weather was also uncertain. I made some mistakes, dropping several seconds in SS1, but we have also set some good stages since to catch back time. I felt more comfortable on the repeat run, even if we still have somehow to work a bit to get more out of the car and to make it easier to drive. We made a good step already and have been able to build confidence, which in turn helps us to go faster. The weather guys have done a strong job to give us precise information which is important on a day like this. Tomorrow, there will still be a high risk of punctures, so we’ll be aiming first of all for a clean run.”

Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Stage wins in SS3 and jointly with Neuville in SS5 kept the Estonians in the hunt
• Just 2.5 seconds behind their Belgian team-mates after the opening eight stages

Tänak said: “This afternoon’s loop felt a lot smoother than the opening stages, and generally the stability of the car was much better. We struggled a bit this morning to find the necessary confidence and feeling. We still couldn’t push to 100% but I’d say we’re at around 90% at the moment. The rally itself is a bit tricky so these two things combined makes life a bit difficult. We had a consistent second loop and, in a way, we were lucky with the weather. Our weather guys put in a strong effort to predict things before we entered the loop because the rain here disappears and reappears in places where you don’t expect it.”

Crew Notes: Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (#2 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Steady day for the crew in their first Ypres Rally Belgium in Rally1 machinery
• Top-five time in SS7 during the afternoon loop demonstrated their improvements

Solberg said: “The first day is complete and we can be satisfied overall; the feeling has got better and despite a couple of issues, including a sticking gear shift in SS8, it’s been generally a clean run with no mistakes, and lots learned. We lost a lot of time on that last stage, but we’re here and we’ve been building up nicely this afternoon with better pace. It’s just about gaining more confidence in our first time here with the WRC car. These stages need 100% commitment, and the top guys have so much more experience, so we need to be smart and learn for the future.”

Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet said: “After a tight battle in Finland, it has again been another epic fight today between Thierry, Ott and Elfyn (Evans). It shows just how intense the competition is with these new Rally1 cars, even on different surfaces. It turned out to be a good day for us despite the uncertain and varying weather conditions, but thanks to the excellent feedback from our weather guys, we were able to get all the necessary information to choose the right tyres. Thierry, after a missed junction in the first stage of the day, scored an impressive five stage wins to put himself – and Martijn – at the front of the rally. Ott and Martin also had a solid day, just 2.5 seconds behind their team-mates. The target for Oliver and Elliott was to get back their confidence with the car and to make it through the day safely. They managed that and also showed some good times. The rally, of course, is far from over and we still have some work to do on the set-up to give our crews a more consistent and predictable car.”

Saturday at a glance

• Eight more tarmac stages will be contested on Saturday – again following a repeated loop of four timed tests
• The overall stage distance covers a longer total of 133.22km starting with Reninge (SS9/SS13, 15.00km) and Dikkebus (SS10/SS14, 14.29km) before moving onto Wijtschate (SS11/SS15, 15km) and Hollebeke (SS12/SS16, 22.32km), the longest individual stage of the rally.

Classification after Day One