Hyundai WRT

[AnttiL]

Sordo used to be a tarmac specialist. Now since start of 2017 he has 2!!! podiums on tarmac and only one on 100% tarmac rally (second is from Catalunya). He often is somewhere around in speed and crashes yes.

In Tour de Corse 2017 he was third. On three stages he was second, the rest were 4-6th positions.
In Deutschland 2017 he went off on the fourth stage. He won a couple of stages (including Panzerplatte and some of the fast countryside stages), on the rest he was mostly outside top 5. Road position had its effect, restarting on Saturday and Sunday put him behind other WRC cars but on the power stage he started earlier.
In Catalunya 2017 it was all top 5 stage times and another power stage win, except that he broke the steering (in the same place as Mikkelsen).
In Tour de Corse 2018 he was struggling with the setup and understeer, only one 5th position in stage times, the rest slower.
In Deutschland 2018 he was off the pace on all stages except Panzerplatte, where he won both the long runs and was 1st and 2nd on the short ones. Also complaining about understeer and bad feeling with the car. Crash on Sunday.
In Catalunya 2019 it was raining and Sordo seemed to be off the pace, losing even the rally lead. On Sunday he was third fastest after the Sebs.

[bisak]

In Croatia I carefully watched Tanak's car live in a variety of corners. I know some suspension design basics and stuff but I'm definitely no expert. I have a question for the Czech automotive engineer guy, do you think changing the roll center of a WRC car involves homologation issues?

What I noticed from watching, again I'm no expert, but I think given the slightest change of grip, dirty road, off-camber, or etc, the Hyundai immediately understeers. I feel like the roll centers, or better yet the roll axis is majorly f-ed up on this car.
Unless there's maximum grip from the tires, the car fails to get the initial grip caused by chassis roll, looks way too geometrically stiff and just skids. I guess there's someone more competent than me around here to discuss this theory.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/tanak...ai-on-asphalt/

Strange that they fail to mention that he is the 3rd tarmac WRC winner with similar issues in the car.

Maybe this also explains Breen's lack of pace in Croatia. A driver who loves tarmac...

[AnttiL]

Not on a similar level though, Breen was never super quick in the C3 WRC which was a fast tarmac car in 2017 and 2018 when he drove it. But Breen’s Croatia comments confirm the same problem, he’s not comfortable.

[TypeR]

Surprisingly many comments from Tänak about the car and that there is no point of extra testing if they don't find/solve the real issue..

[denkimi]

Perhaps hyundai should try new young drivers who have not setteled in a driving style yet.

Older, experienced drivers often seem to be less able to drive around problems. Instead relying on changes in the setup to get it right.

[mknight]

They started with Loubet last year and now Solberg. You could also say that switching Loeb with Breen is similar.

2 problems with that though:
- Not every young driver can be race winner / champion ( Imagine MSport saying they don't want Ogier in 2017 and going for title with Camilli (Ogier wasn't happy with the car for first 5 minths). Actually Citroen did just that, didn't get Ogier and said they didn't want Latvala or Mikkelsen going with Breen +Lefvebre instead, didn't work)

- The car is out by the end of this year, for next few years they need to make the new car suit the drivers that are available for them and that can chase for championships

[AnttiL]

Remember also that both Neuville and Tänak have their contracts ending this year. Maybe both want to secure the contract early in order to make sure they get to develop the new car up to their likings?

[er88]

Remember also that both Neuville and Tänak have their contracts ending this year. Maybe both want to secure the contract early in order to make sure they get to develop the new car up to their likings?

True. Hyundai didn't let Neuville test the 17 car early as he wasn't signed up until later in 2016 . Abbring, Sordo and Paddon did the testing initially before Thierry signed.

I think we'll see Toyota and Hyundai trying to tie up some of their drivers earlier in the year - instead of leaving it later for that reason.
Hyundai wont want Tanak in the car with the possibility of him then leaving to Msport or Toyota etc with vital data

[wyler]

T.
Hyundai wont want Tanak in the car with the possibility of him then leaving to Msport or Toyota etc with vital data

on the other side, I would want all the good I can take from a good developer...