Heavy snow robs Neuville of first meaningful Rally1 test

Ott Tänak and Oliver Solberg tested the updated Hyundai in France this week but Neuville's run has been canceled

2022TEST_RT_071

Heavy snow and extreme weather conditions have robbed Thierry Neuville of his first meaningful test aboard Hyundai Motorsport’s all-new 2022 car.

Conditions in the Alsace region of France forced Hyundai to reschedule Neuville’s time in the hybrid i20 N Rally1. Ott Tänak and Oliver Solberg both drove the car earlier in the week.

As revealed by DirtFish, this latest specification Hyundai i20 ran in Germany last week before crossing the border into France for more specific asphalt roads this week.

The re-arranged test will be confirmed in the coming days, with Neuville understandably keen to put some miles down in the car the team will use at next month’s Monte Carlo Rally.

2022TEST_RT_103

These first pictures of the i20 testing confirm team principal Andrea Adamo’s comments that the car is a radical overhaul from the prototype the team had been running earlier this season.

Adamo told DirtFish: “The only thing that will be similar to the current car that you have seen are the rims, and I’m not joking.

“The workshop has done something incredible, the purchasing department has done something incredible. Because we have been there, and everything that they seen needed to be changed has been done. So every piece has been redone in this car. A huge job done.”

Comments