In its brief WRC tenure Croatia has been known for throwing up drama triggered by sudden shifts in the weather. Heavy rain rewrites the character of the stages and requires a raft of setup changes to cope.
That’s what Hyundai is hoping to avoid in Croatia this week. Already on the back foot as a raft of work to improve its setup choices for the i20 N Rally1 still isn’t fully realized for the first pure asphalt event of the season, its drivers will be praying the rain stays away – otherwise they may be in deeper trouble.
“The weather seems to be quite clean, I would say, this year. So let’s see if it can help us a little bit,” Adrien Fourmaux told DirtFish.
“If it’s dry, I think we can be more competitive. At least I hope [so]. And for the rest, flat out.”
Fourmaux is hoping for a “full dry” Croatia with consistent, predictable conditions. Because Plan B, if the heavens do open, is a much more perilous choice. In Fourmaux’s words, “trees or trophy” is the backup strategy.
Fourmaux is feeling reasonably upbeat – so long as the rain stays away
Confidence the front end of the car will react predictably and deliver grip is key on asphalt – especially now that Croatia Rally has shifted its base to Rijeka and some of the newly-introduced stages are faster and more flowing than some of those seen previously.
In that regard Fourmaux feels the i20 N Rally1 has taken a step forward. But a consistent feeling requires consistent weather.
“The car is much calmer than before on all the bumps and the different grip changes,” said Fourmaux.
“Where we need to improve a bit is on the balance of the car. The balance is always a big topic and to get a good balance, trust the car on the dirt and clean stages and how you mix them. So that’s the key.”
Neuville concurred that rain would be a hindrance to his team’s performance – but with precipitation currently steering clear of the stages, he’s more worried about pollution on the road slowing him down. The 2024 world champion starts sixth on the road for Friday’s stages.
Pollution on the road for later runners is front of Neuville's mind heading into the first day of Croatia Rally
“At the moment it should not be raining, so one problem less,” said Neuville.
“I mean, dry or not dry, the challenge will be there. Road position will not be in our favor on stage two and three especially, so those are the ones we need to try to have a good feeling and a good run. And then anything is open.”
But while anything may be open, Neuville has little confidence that a win is on the table.
“Realistically I think our chances of winning are small at the moment unfortunately,” he conceded. “So I would say that we direct the target on doing the best possible rally we can with what we have.”
