Almost 600 days have passed since Dani Sordo last drove a Rally1 Hyundai in the World Rally Championship, but the ambition hasn’t changed.
Lining up for his first event of 2026, and first in top-class machinery since Acropolis 2024, the Spaniard has one aim: to win.
Like team-mates Hayden Paddon (who drove in Monte Carlo and Croatia) and Esapekka Lappi (who tackled Sweden and Safari), Sordo’s job as a part-time driver is to assist Hyundai’s manufacturers’ championship challenge, and assist full-season drivers Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux where he can.
Despite being Spanish, Sordo is actually the least experienced of the Hyundai trio at Rally Islas Canarias, but has long held a desite to win his home round of the world championship – despite nine podium finishes and five runner-up finishes when the event was based in Catalunya.
And while Sordo’s WRC Rally1 experience is low, he drove Rallye La Llana two weeks ago to get his eye in.
“I am really excited to be back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car and especially looking forward to being in Canarias,” Sordo said.
“My target is to have a good setup and fight for the victory or a podium – when I start a rally I always aim for the win, and being in Spain on Tarmac makes that feel very achievable.
“I think we found a good setup and balance with the car at Rallye La Llana, and it was great to work in the Rally1 car with Cándido [Carrera, co-driver] again. I think we are in a good place heading into the rally, and there is no substitute for the feeling you get in a Rally1 car.”
Sordo’s shot at victory certainly won’t be compromised by his desire, but perhaps circumstance (where his team-mates end up around him on the leaderboard) and performance of the i20 vs Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally1, which totally dominated the event last year.
“I don’t remember a great deal about Canarias, but it was a legendary rally from the Spanish Championship,” Sordo added.
“I do remember is that finding a good feeling was difficult, because the island is quite complicated; you can have rain on one stage and completely dry conditions on the next.”
