Hyundai Motorsport intends to return to fighting with Toyota Racing until the end of next season after two years well below expectations. Ott Tanak has returned to Thierry Neuville. returned to Alzenau after just one season in M-Sport, suddenly making the driver line-up much stronger and more competitive than the current one.
But it’s not over, because in the next few weeks he will have to define the crew or crews for the third car. Teemu Suninen, who this year shared the wheel with Dani Sordo, seems to have convinced the team leaders to still consider him among the first petals of the shortlist of candidates for 2024.
“Suninen is on our radar for 2024, but I can’t say anything more precise,” Cyril Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “He is indeed part of the list of drivers who can race for us next year, but we have to choose collectively to try to make the best possible choice.”
The biggest question mark for next season, however, is linked to Esapekka Lappi. This year, the Finn has raced throughout the season but has alternated excellent performances with mistakes that have compromised the team’s pursuit of the Constructors’ title, which ended a few weeks ago at Toyota Racing.
Lappi also played a very important role in the development of the i20 N Rally1 and this is also why Abiteboul seems intent on turning a blind eye to accidents, in addition to the fact that he does not have drivers of a certain caliber (read “better than Lappi) on the market.
“Esapekka has been a key part of our team this season and has been very important for us, achieving important results in some parts of the year. I like to think he can be part of our future next year.”
“Discussions with Esapekka to continue together have already been opened and are continuing. We hope to be able to close the discussions in the next few days. I think the question is to understand what he wants and make sure he can get what he wants. But I’m not talking about money”.
During the post-event press conference at the Central European Rally, the Hyundai Motorsport team principal spoke again about the possible introduction of the fourth car for next season.
“I would like to field a fourth car, but success comes with planning, organisation, but also with prioritisation. I think the first thing to do is to make sure that all three crews for next year have the car they need, and this will be the goal of the whole team.”
“So, from this point of view, we could delay the plans related to the fourth car. But it is clear that developing the drivers, the young ones, with a fourth car is what we want to do. It’s all a question of timing.”
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