The identity of Dani Sordo’s new co-driver has been revealed, with Borja Rozada stepping into the Hyundai Motorsport fold alongside Sordo in place of Carlos del Barrio.
On the final day of the Monza Rally earlier in December, local media reported that del Barrio was onto pastures new alongside Junior WRC driver Fabrizio Zaldivar who will graduate to the WRC3 class in 2021.
That left Sordo without a right-hand-man in the third i20 Coupe WRC he will share with Craig Breen throughout next season and led to intense speculation about who could replace del Barrio.
In the end, Rozada was confirmed on Monday as just Sordo’s third different co-driver since his WRC debut in 2006 with Marc Martí preceding del Barrio at the beginning of Sordo’s world rallying career. All three of Sordo’s WRC wins came with del Barrio alongside him.
Rozada is a seasoned co-driver with over 20 years of experience but is relatively inexperienced in the WRC. The majority of his rallying has been at home in Spain, recently alongside Pepe López, but he has done several world championship rounds next to Mexican Benito Guerra including in a Ford Fiesta WRC.
Sordo and Rozada will first compete as a partnership on next month’s Rally Monte Carlo but it is understood the pair have already been in the car together in testing ahead of the Monte.
The rest of their campaign is yet to be confirmed.
