Rally New Zealand – Day Two
Hyundai Motorsport has endured a difficult penultimate day at Rally New Zealand, round 11 of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), with its three crews holding third (Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja), fourth (Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe) and fifth (Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson) positions.
The leading crew at the end of Friday’s stages, Tänak/Järveoja, found themselves down in second place at the start of Saturday after a five-second penalty was imposed on them overnight. The pair, along with Neuville/Wydaeghe, were deemed to have used excess hybrid boost on Thursday’s super special. Still, the crew knuckled down to action for the penultimate day.
Saturday’s schedule moved north of Auckland for a trio of stages in wet and slippery conditions. The day began with Kaipara Hills (SS8/SS11, 15.83km) before heading onto Puhoi (SS9/SS10, 22.50km) for the longest individual test of the loop. The run through Komokoriki (SS10/SS13, 5.81km) represented the shortest stage of the weekend outside of Thursday’s opener, but no less of a challenge for the competing crews.
Tänak immediately tried to regain the lead through the opening stage, reducing his deficit to 2.9 seconds but it was set to be a complicated Saturday for the team. An additional ten-second penalty was applied to all three Hyundai Motorsport WRC crews for a hybrid boost infringement on Friday’s Te Akau North stage, dropping Tänak to third place, where he would conclude the day.
Neuville experienced an issue with third gear in SS9, which necessitated a gearbox change at lunchtime service. The Belgian crew moved up to fourth overall at the start of the afternoon loop and held their position with a secure run during the remaining stages, albeit with a 55-second gap to their team-mates in third.
Solberg, meanwhile, had a clean morning but was hampered by a misfiring engine throughout the final loop. He completed Saturday’s 88.28km of competitive stages in fifth place.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Saturday’s schedule moved north of Auckland for a trio of stages in wet and slippery conditions. The day began with Kaipara Hills (SS8/SS11, 15.83km) before heading onto Puhoi (SS9/SS10, 22.50km) for the longest individual test of the loop. The run through Komokoriki (SS10/SS13, 5.81km) represented the shortest stage of the weekend outside of Thursday’s opener, but no less of a challenge for the competing crews.
Tänak immediately tried to regain the lead through the opening stage, reducing his deficit to 2.9 seconds but it was set to be a complicated Saturday for the team. An additional ten-second penalty was applied to all three Hyundai Motorsport WRC crews for a hybrid boost infringement on Friday’s Te Akau North stage, dropping Tänak to third place, where he would conclude the day.
Neuville experienced an issue with third gear in SS9, which necessitated a gearbox change at lunchtime service. The Belgian crew moved up to fourth overall at the start of the afternoon loop and held their position with a secure run during the remaining stages, albeit with a 55-second gap to their team-mates in third.
Solberg, meanwhile, had a clean morning but was hampered by a misfiring engine throughout the final loop. He completed Saturday’s 88.28km of competitive stages in fifth place.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Tough Saturday for the Estonian crew as they dropped to third
- The pair will now fight for their fifth consecutive podium of the season
Tänak said: “Certainly not one of the best days we’ve had this season, and in fact it’s been very demanding at times. We have picked up some time penalties, as well as having other trouble, but we’ve made it to the end of the day. We’re still here in third place, so it’s not all so bad. We lack a bit in the package to find any confidence in these conditions. If it’s good, consistent grip then we can drive OK, but this afternoon when we’ve had stages full of water and mud, it’s much more difficult.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Belgians moved up two places to fourth overall despite struggles
- Crew lost third gear in morning loop but recovered for a stronger afternoon run
Neuville said: “It has been a challenging day but there’s not been much more we could do. We have been driving on our rhythm and trying to make it through. We are in a bit of no man’s land. We tried to do well this morning, but we had a problem with third gear. Conditions this afternoon were a bit more like we expected, but we couldn’t match the pace of the guys in front, so we have to be satisfied with fourth place. With two spins on Friday, and losing 15 seconds through time penalties, when you start a rally in that way, you can’t fight for victory. Tomorrow is one of the shortest days we’ve had for a while, so we’re going to try and end it in a good position.”
Crew Notes: Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (#2 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Advanced to fifth place on the overall classification
- Crew nursed an engine misfire in the afternoon loop
Solberg said: “We started this morning’s opening stage not so badly but on the second one I struggled with the car in a few areas, which knocked my confidence, so I backed off to avoid making any mistakes. We wanted to try and improve in the afternoon loop but we had an engine misfire and only had three cylinders. It’s a shame because we had quite a good feeling and the stages are fun in these tough conditions. I have enjoyed myself and it’s been a really cool experience. I’ve not made any mistakes, so hopefully we can find something overnight to have clean final day and to secure our fifth place.”
Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet said: “An extremely difficult day. We’ve seen it is easy to make mistakes and things definitely didn’t go the way we wanted with too many issues. We incurred some time penalties following human mistakes with the maximum hybrid energy values for SS1 and SS7. The effects of these errors in terms of performance were rather negligible but there is a clear rule, and we failed our crews on this one. There is no excuse, this should not happen when fighting for championships. Ott missed the feeling with the car in the inconsistent conditions we have seen today. Despite everything, he is still in the fight for a podium, so that will be the target for the end of the rally. Thierry suffered from a gearbox issue in the morning which was resolved at midday service. He had cleaner runs in the afternoon but with big time gaps in front and behind him, the aim will be to bring the car to the finish. Oliver struggled with confidence in the car and traction, and also suffered from engine misfires in the afternoon. Still, he was able to bring the car back to the Service Park. We intend to fix the issue tonight so Oliver can secure the fifth position on Sunday. Tomorrow is quite a short day, but rain and mud will make the conditions again rather unpredictable. The three cars are still in the game. It is not over till it is over.”
Sunday at a glance
- A short final day covers just 31.18km of competitive action in New Zealand, building up to the rally concluding Power Stage
- A repeated loop of Whitford Forest – Te Maraunga Waiho (SS14/SS16, 8.82km) and Jacks Ridge Haunui (SS15/SS17, 6.77km) will bring Rally New Zealand to its epic conclusion.
Classification after Day Two
| 1 | K. Rovanperä | J. Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 2:28:26.3 |
| 2 | S. Ogier | B. Veillas | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +29.0 |
| 3 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +46.4 |
| 4 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +1:41.4 |
| 5 | O. Solberg | E. Edmondson | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +3:34.9 |
