The weaknesses of the team's i20 N Rally1 were made clear in Kenya last weekend after Esapekka Lappi suffered three prop shaft failures followed by another problem that left the Finn with only two-wheel drive.
Lappi was unable to complete any runs in shakedown after two prop shaft failures, while the third took him out of a strong third position on his debut at the African event.
On top of Lappi’s issue, Thierry Neuville retired from fourth overall on Friday when his front left suspension collapsed. The Belgian rejoined the rally to finish eighth, only to be disqualified from the event after breaching recce regulations.
Dani Sordo was the team’s best performer in Kenya finishing fifth, albeit more than five minutes behind winner Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier.
Hyundai deployed containment measures to address the prop shaft issue, but those failed. However, the team is planning to deploy further measures ahead of next month’s round in Estonia without using an emergency homologation joker.
The team’s new technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison told Autosport that it would be unlikely to introduce a re-designed prop shaft, should it be required, until the October homologation joker window.
“I think we needed a wake up call or what we call sometimes a burning platform to do some of the changes that need to be done, now that we have the management in place, and we are well aware of the weaknesses of the car, which are linked to some of the weaknesses in the mindset that was in place up until that point,” Cyril Abiteboul told Autosport.
Source: Autosport