Hyundai Motorsport opens a new chapter in its WRC history today. After the stint signed by Michel Nandan with which it returned to the World Rally and the winning one with Andrea Adamo, the Alzenau team has chosen the name of the new team principal: Cyril Abiteboul.
We had already written about Hyundai’s interest in the Parisian manager in mid-November, but things only materialized in the last few hours, with Abiteboul who will replace Julian Moncet – deputy team principal who managed the team in 2022 – and will take the reins of a team that needs leadership, a precise direction to take in order to return to fighting permanently for the WRC titles.
Abiteboul, born in Paris in 1977, returns to top motorsport after directing the Renault Sport F1 team from 2014 to 2021. The team, which then changed its name from Renault to Alpine, chose Otmar Szafnauer as team principal at the end of 2021, took office in early 2022.
In this period Abiteboul remained to test the waters, waiting for the right occasion to embrace a project that attracted him. Hyundai Motorsport is what has attracted him the most and he will get what he has been waiting for.
Cyril Abiteboul, Renault Sport F1 Managing Director
Photo by: Renault
Arriving at Hyundai in early December, the former Renault team principal will have little time to get to grips with his team. The tests for the Rallye Monte-Carlo will start already this month and the prologue of the WRC 2023 will be held in mid-January, therefore in just over a month.
A difficult situation, which Andrea Adamo had already had to face when he took office as head of the sports section of the Korean company. The team, however, has already announced the riders for next season: alongside Thierry Neuville – in possession of a multi-year contract – and Dani Sordo are Esapekka Lappi and Craig Breen.
That’s not all, because Abiteboul will have a team on his hands that – according to the latest 2022 season releases – seems to be recovering thanks to the 5 overall successes (3 obtained by the former Ott tanak and 2 by Neuville) captured in the campaign that ended a few weeks ago . The i20 N Rally1s still don’t seem up to the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1s, but the progression curve seems to be on the rise.
There are few certainties, compared to a more organized and more successful past than the present. It will be up to Abiteboul to give the direction and personality much required also by the drivers in 2022 and restore Hyundai to a credible contender for the titles.
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