Monza hosts WRC title showdown | Hyundai N
The 2020 WRC season reaches its conclusion at the seventh and final round of the year, Rally Monza, as we aim to defend our manufacturers’ title at a brand-new event.
After our 1-2 result in Sardinia, we hold a seven-point advantage in an exciting title fight that looks set to go right down to the final stage with 43 points still available.
“We arrive at the final round of a demanding and tricky season with a very important task in front of us: to defend our manufacturers’ title,” said our Team Principal Andrea. “On paper, we have an advantage of seven points but at the pinnacle of rallying this is nothing. We can’t take anything for granted.”
Familiar, yet different
Monza is hosting a round of the WRC for the first time, although teams and drivers are well acquainted with the location from the annual Monza Rally Show. Not only have we participated in the celebrated show on four previous occasions, our i20 Coupe WRC was officially launched at the event in 2016.
Our rally-winning line-up of Thierry/Nicolas, Ott /Martin and Dani /Carlos will be looking to add to our three victories this season, each crew having taken one apiece in Monte-Carlo, Estonia and Sardinia respectively.
“We have three crews who have all shown this year that they can win,” added Andrea. “We will have to work hard for that and keep pushing right up to the final Power Stage. It’s entirely in our hands.”
Sprint to the finish
“I have done Monza a couple of times as a rally show, which was certainly different to the format in which we are going to run it this year in WRC,” said Thierry. “This season finale is going to be an exciting event, very intense and almost like a sprint.”
Our Estonian crew will be aiming to bounce back after a tough run of events recently, with a determined approach. “From the team’s perspective, we need to do all we can to defend the manufacturers’ title,” said Ott. “There are also some things still open in the drivers’ championship too. As it’s the last event, it will be all or nothing.”
Dani has previously participated in Monza Rally Show with our team, and heads back to Italy on the back of his recent Sardinian win. “The objective is very clear: to try and fight for the overall victory and to target the manufacturers’ title,” he said. “It is a very important mission for our team.”