Team's hard work has been rewarded with Sardinia win, says Moncet
Tanak’s wait for a first victory of the World Rally Championship’s new hybrid era was finally ended thanks to a mesmerising display of speed and car control on the Mediterranean island’s narrow, rock-strewn roads. His last visit to the top step of the podium came on Arctic Rally Finland exactly 462 days ago.
As well as highlighting the speed of the I20 N Rally1 on gravel, the one-minute victory margin over second-placed M-Sport Ford driver Craig Breen also suggested the Alzenau-based squad is starting to get a handle on the car's fragile reliability.
At one point or another on the opening five rounds of the World Rally Championship this year, transmission or hybrid issues have held back Tanak and team-mate Thierry Neuville and, in some cases, denied them strong points-scoring finishes. In Sardinia, Neuville's win prospects were ended when his car dropped to two-wheel-drive on Friday with Tanak suffering similar woes. However, the cancellation of that day's final two stages for safety reasons meant the 2019 World Champion returned to the overnight service halt less than a second behind then leader Esapekka Lappi.
However, Moncet - who was drafted in to oversee operations following the departure of former Team Principal Andrea Adamo last December because of personal reasons - feels a corner has, at long last, been turned.
“It has been a difficult start to this new era of the World Rally Championship, but we have never given up and we have dug deep,” he said. “This is a wonderful reward for the efforts of everyone involved.
“We know that we still have work to do if we are to sustain this level of performance but, for now, we will enjoy this moment and the celebrations. One thing is for certain: this victory and double podium is the motivational push that the whole team has been waiting for and working so hard to achieve.”
The season-opening Rallye-Monte Carlo was particularly difficult for the Alzenau-based team, with Moncet admitting it was a wake-up call and demonstrated just how far they were behind their rivals. “It started very bad in Monte-Carlo,” he said. “The weekend was terrible for all of us. We work hard, all the team, and today I think we deserve this result.
“We know that we have a lot work to do and everything is far from perfect … we want to improve on all levels. We know, first of all, that we need to improve general reliability. We all know that the rallies are quite tough and to finish first, first you have to finish. The famous sentence, nothing new.
“We have to work on the chassis as well. Still, we showed a competitive pace all weekend. So, this is a good boost. It’s up to us to improve again,” he added.
With Tanak winning in Sardinia, and Dani Sordo finishing third, Hyundai Motorsport have inched closer to Toyota in the manufacturers’ title race, the two marques now separated by 39 points. Going into round five, the points difference stood at 59.
