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  • Jordan opens up on bizarre Faldo deal for Schumacher’s first F1 test

    Jordan opens up on bizarre Faldo deal for Schumacher’s first F1 test

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    Jordan had made a swift move to line up Schumacher for his F1 debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, in the wake of his regular driver Bertrand Gachot being out of action.

    But Schumacher had not driven an F1 car before, and Jordan wanted to give him an early run at Silverstone to get him comfortable in the 191 prior to the German’s first laps around Spa-Francorchamps.

    With time short, Jordan only had a single day when both he and Schumacher could test at Silverstone, but they found that the track had already been booked up.

    Jordan has revealed now how, determined not to lose the opportunity, he had to do some extra bartering to secure Schumacher the chance to test.

    Talking in the latest episode of a new Formula for Success (FFS) podcast that Jordan is doing with David Coulthard, he reveals how the plans for Schumacher’s test faced a pretty big hurdle.

    “I couldn’t get on to Silverstone because it had been booked by somebody,” said Jordan. “I said ‘who the hell can that be?’ But they wouldn’t tell me who.

    “So I jumped in my car, drove over to Silverstone to find none other than six-times [golf] major winner Nick Faldo in his 956 Porsche, which he couldn’t insure for the road so he had hired the track for the day.

    “I said to him ‘Nick I think we might have to come to some sort of a compromise here and do a little bit of a deal. What if you would do me a massive, massive favour, when you’re not running the car could we run and when we’re not running you could run?’

    “And after a little bit of argy-bargy, he struck a deal with me. And that’s what happened.”

    Michael Schumacher, Jordan 191 Ford

    Photo by: Ercole Colombo

    Faldo kept a close eye on Schumacher’s progress in the test, and it has emerged exactly why – because Jordan had offered the golfer a run in the F1 car at the end of the day.

    Jordan added: “For those that don’t know Nick, he is about 6ft 4 [inches]. He is a giant of a man.

    “When he tried to get in the car, couldn’t, as you could expect, because these cars are tiny things. So, we had to squeeze him in sideways. The only problem was we couldn’t actually get the steering wheel on and that was a major job.

    “If anything had happened I would have been up for manslaughter as this was suicidal, it should never have happened, but he wanted to drive the car at all costs. And he did drive the car. He will probably tell us how well he drove it. But we know different! Anyway, that’s Nick and he’s an absolute champion.”

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    Jordan said Faldo only realised many years later the significance of the moment after he called Jordan up.

    “It was only about 10 years later he rang me up, he said ‘Look EJ, I just need to clear up something? Could you tell me, was the person that was in that car of yours that day, somebody’s told me that was Michael Schumacher’s first ever time in a Formula 1 car?” That is a true story.

    “It was Michael Schumacher’s first time in an F1 car, Nick Faldo gave him the laps on the track, and we gave Nick the car to drive around. Everyone went home happy, in particular Nick Faldo.

    “He now tells everybody because he’s gloating on the fact that he actually tested the same car as the great Michael Schumacher!”

    The full series of FFS podcasts from Jordan and Coulthard can be found here.

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  • The EV startup boom is over. Companies are now trying to avoid a bust.

    The EV startup boom is over. Companies are now trying to avoid a bust.

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    In September 2020, Hindenburg Research released its report on Nikola, saying it was “an intricate fraud.” The company acknowledged a truck appearing to cruise down a desert road under its own power in a video was not. The SEC launched an inquiry. Ultimately, Trevor Milton, Nikola’s founder, was convicted of fraud. Nikola settled with the SEC for $125 million.

    In 2021, J Capital Research published a report calling Faraday Future “nothing but a bucket to collect money from U.S. investors and pour it into the black hole of debt created by its founder.” A company spokesperson said “the substantive allegations of inaccurate disclosures” in the report “were not supported by the evidence reviewed.” The SEC launched an investigation, and the company underwent a transformative restructuring.

    Now, those companies are facing other pressures.

    Nikola and Faraday Future in their 2022 annual filings both disclosed “substantial doubt” about their abilities to continue as going concerns.

    Nikola had about seven months’ worth of cash to cover operating expenses as of its latest SEC filing. The company did not respond to requests for comment. Nikola started sales of its battery-electric heavy-duty truck last year and expects to start production on hydrogen fuel cell trucks in the second half of 2023.

    Faraday Future had less than a month’s worth of cash to cover operating expenses. A spokesperson said in a statement that the company had raised additional funds and expects to receive an additional $65 million over the coming month, and that while there were “issues that impeded our progress in the past,” Faraday Future plans to make its first customer deliveries of a vehicle in April.

    Faraday Future “feels comfortable with its current liquidity supporting the start of production and delivery of our flagship FF 91 Futurist,” said the spokesperson.

    But those stumbles and others began to erode investor confidence in electric vehicles from other companies, too.

    “You had companies’ just outright fraud investigations early on, and that didn’t help,” said Robert Bollinger, the founder and CEO of Bollinger Motors. Some investors saw those investigations “as fodder for why they might be shy to invest.”

    In 2020, Bollinger Motors’ net cash provided by financing activities was more than $20 million. The following year, that number was down to about $9 million. Mullen Automotive Inc. acquired a controlling interest in Bollinger late last year, but in June, Bollinger had cash to cover a little more than a month of operating expenses. Bollinger only just revived its original products, two electric off-road vehicles, and is still waiting to start production of a Class 4 truck.

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  • ABB Robotics to invest $20M in Michigan plant expansion

    ABB Robotics to invest $20M in Michigan plant expansion

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    Zurich-based robotics giant ABB Ltd. is planning to invest $20 million and create 72 jobs at its Auburn Hills, Mich., plant in response to the growth of automation in the automotive industry and others.

    The company will increase robot production at its 538,000-square-foot building, adding new equipment to its manufacturing space and renovating its offices and demonstration center, said John Bubnikovich, ABB’s U.S. Robotics division president.

    The renovations at the plant, where the company has operated since 1993, are expected to be complete by November. The project is being supported with a $450,000 performance-based grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

    Automation continues to expand in the auto industry as carmakers accelerate electrification plans. Automotive is roughly half of ABB’s robotics business, which supplies the major automakers, Bubnikovich said, declining to name customers.

    At the same time, the company is seeing major growth in warehousing, logistics and health care. Besides needing more robots, the common demand among customers is having more control of what they do.

    “We need to increase our production capacity to keep up with the market,” Bubnikovich said. “How do we streamline our delivery process and become more intimate with the market here in North America?”

    The answer has been to build robots locally, which allows for customers to be more involved in the process, Bubnikovich said. About 80 percent of ABB’s robots sold in the Americas are delivered from local factories, and that is soon to be 90 percent, according to the company. Most of the robot parts are imported, though Bubnikovich said the company is looking at ways to localize production.

    The Auburn Hills renovations will add a third manufacturing line, allowing the company to increase capacity by 30 percent.

    Prior to launching its manufacturing plant in Auburn Hills in 2015, ABB focused primarily on systems integration and building assembly lines for automotive companies. It has prioritized diversifying the company in recent years.

    ABB’s, which has its U.S. robotics base in North Carolina, employs 105,000 people around the world, including 350 in Auburn Hills. The 72 new jobs will be manufacturing positions.

    The jobs pay an average of $26 per hour and offer full benefits, according to an MEDC briefing memo. Crain’s Detroit Business, an affilaite of Automotive News, requested pay details from the MEDC.

    ABB joins other robotics companies growing their footprints in the Detroit suburbs. Last year, robotics giant and ABB competitor Fanuc announced an $86 million expansion in Auburn Hills, following a $51 million add-on in 2018. JR Automation, a customer of ABB, opened a new 227,500-square-foot systems integration plant in Orion Township late last year.

    ABB, which recorded $29.4 billion in revenue last year, said it expects future investments in Michigan and the U.S.

    “As the global mega trends of labor shortages, uncertainty, the near and reshoring of production, and a desire to operate more sustainably accelerate, more businesses are turning to automation to build resilience while improving efficiency and flexibility,” Sami Atiya, president of ABB robotics and discrete automation, said in a news release.

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  • Lawmakers authorize $585 million for Ford, Gotion, Our Next Energy EV battery plants in Michigan

    Lawmakers authorize $585 million for Ford, Gotion, Our Next Energy EV battery plants in Michigan

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    “We have not historically competed for projects of this scale,” Thelen said of the Gotion plant. “This is a rare moment for us to see this kind of opportunity. … To see them consider a corner of the state, the northwest portion of the state, that hasn’t seen projects like this frankly ever is a really exciting opportunity for us to see a path to really boost the economy in an area that’s been in decline.”

    Rep. Donni Steele, a Republican from Oakland County’s Orion Township who opposed the transfer, noted that all three projects are EV battery factories.

    “I’m just really kind of concerned moving forward in the state of Michigan that we don’t necessarily have really a vision and we don’t really have a lot of diversification,” she said.

    She pointed to worker shortages and suggested that some of the incentives funding should instead go toward improving schools. Republicans also have criticized Chinese ties to two of the factories.

    Thelen, however, said 40,000 people in West Michigan work for auto suppliers. He warned of a reduction in employment amid the transition to EVs because they are simpler to engineer and manufacture than cars powered by internal combustion engines.

    “If we take no action, we stand to lose about a third of the employment in that industry, dramatically impacting the state of Michigan, dramatically impacting communities all across the state,” he said. “We have to find ways to offset that loss and reposition ourselves as leaders in this new economy, in this new automotive economy. That to me is why I think this is imperative.”

    Rep. Phil Skaggs, an East Grand Rapids Democrat, supported the transfer. He cited competition from Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada for EV investment.

    “We have to win this competition for the engineering jobs that will come, the working jobs that will come, the entrepreneurs and the pizza shops, for the supply chain and the construction. This is an extraordinary, serious moment. And it calls for us to govern seriously, to put aside rhetoric, to put aside foreign policy hypotheticals and do what is right for Michigan, for Michiganders and our future.”

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  • Calado questions WEC tyre warmer ban after Sebring Prologue crash

    Calado questions WEC tyre warmer ban after Sebring Prologue crash

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    The Briton confirmed that cold tyres were implicated in his shunt at the Turn 1 left-hander at the Sebring International Raceway on the morning of the second day of the test aboard the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar.

    “I was coming out of Turn 1, I had the steering wheel almost straight and was short-shifting up to fourth so as not to get wheelspin, and then I hit that bump on the exit and lost it,” Calado told Autosport.

    “That shows how easy it is to lose control on cold tyres now we aren’t allowed tyre heaters.

    “There is the possibility of some big crashes this year because we are coming out of the pits on cold tyres.

    “I’m just thinking about safety, not just for us professional drivers but also the amateur drivers on the grid.”

    Calado stressed that the problem is only going to get worse when the WEC moves to Europe and the drivers face colder conditions than at Sebring.

    “I know in the IMSA SportsCar Championship they have never used tyre warmers, but over here you are normally racing in temperatures above 20deg C,” he said.

    “But can you imagine coming out of the pits at Spa [the venue for round three of the series at the end of April] and heading into Eau Rouge when it’s 5deg C?”

    “I dread to think what might happen; the speed differential into the corner between a car with a few hundred metres to warm up the tyres after coming out of the pits and a car at full speed is going to be enormous.”

    #98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Paul Dalla Lana, Nicki Thiim

    Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

    The ban on pre-heating tyres has been introduced by the FIA on environmental grounds; tyres were previously placed in ovens powered by diesel heaters.

    Calado suggested that it wasn’t necessary to go back to the such a set-up.

    “We don’t need the tyres at full temp like in the past,” he explained.

    “But we do need something that puts everyone’s safety in a better place.”

    Calado described his impact with the wall at Turn 1 as “fairly low speed”.

    “The problem was that I hit the wall at the wrong angle, and that caused the damage,” he said.

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    Ferrari has confirmed that the monocoque of the #51 has been replaced for the start of the Sebring 1000 Miles race meeting on Wednesday.

    A spokesman said: “We undertook checks and preferred to change the chassis.”

    Toyota driver Sebastien Buemi also raised the concerns about the differential in speeds as a result of the rule change.

    #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

    #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

    Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

    “The worst thing is the difference in speed between someone on hot tyres and someone on cold tyres — I was overtaken by a GTE into Turn 1,” he said. “That is a bit dangerous.

    “It is already hard here at Sebring, and it is pretty hot – so wait for Spa.

    “Everyone will get better at it; I don’t know if it will reach an acceptable level, but right now it is very hard.”

    Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon questioned whether it would be possible to reverse the ban on tyre warmers in the current political climate.

    “Our view is that it is pain, but a necessary pain,” he explained.

    “It is difficult to question the direction, but we know that the road will be bumpy.”

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  • Gordon Murray Automotive Produces First T.50 Supercar

    Gordon Murray Automotive Produces First T.50 Supercar

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    After completing the lengthy process of testing the T.50 (see the related links below), Gordon Murray Automotive is finally starting to assemble the highly limited supercar. The very first example to be built was signed by Gordon Murray marking the beginning of the production for the first model to come from the company. 

    As announced before, the automaker plans to produce just 100 examples of the T.50 for the entire world. Each one of them will be hand-assembled at GMA’s Dunsfold facility in Surrey, England, to unique specifications according to the customers’ desires. The company says no two vehicles will even have the same basic exterior color.

    6 Photos

    “From the very moment, we announced T.50 – conceived to be the world’s most driver-centric supercar – I’ve been looking forward to this day. Designing and engineering the T.50 has been an incredible journey with much of the initial work completed during the lockdown, so to witness the engineering art of the first customer car’s carbon-fiber monocoque ready for assembly, less than two-and-a-half years since the reveal, is quite magical,” Gordon Murray said after signing the first example of the T.50.

    With just 100 units planned for production, most of you are probably asking yourself who is going to provide maintenance and warranty services for the supercar. Gordon Murray Automotive says it is establishing a network of five global service centers, located in the US (East and West coasts), UK, Japan, and Abu Dhabi that will cover those tasks.

    These centers will be staffed with maintenance and service expert technicians trained by GMA to work and repair the T.50. In addition, Gordon Murray Automotive works on a network of 14 support centers around the globe, including Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, and others. Further six centers will be established in key states around the US. 

    Next year, the firm is also supposed to start assembling the T.33, its second road-legal production supercar. The entire run of 100 examples is sold out, though.

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  • GM extends production halt at Mexico truck plant over supply chain issue

    GM extends production halt at Mexico truck plant over supply chain issue

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    GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in January the automaker continued “to face some supply chain and logistics issues, but overall, things remain trending in the right direction.”

    Last month, GM said it would idle its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant that builds Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks for two weeks starting March 27 to maintain “optimal inventory levels with our dealerships.” GM said the Mexican production halt was not related to efforts to optimize inventory.

    GM share closed down 0.5 percent Tuesday to $35.60.

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  • Honda To Prep Plants For EVs, Will Move Accord Production To Indiana

    Honda To Prep Plants For EVs, Will Move Accord Production To Indiana

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    Honda’s plan to build its “EV Hub” in Ohio is beginning to take shape. Last year, the automaker announced it would invest $700 million to prepare three factories to make electric vehicles. We now have more details about Honda’s effort, which includes moving Accord production to Indiana.

    Honda currently produces the popular Accord sedan at its Marysville, Ohio, factory. The automaker will consolidate two production lines at the location, allowing it to begin building the infrastructure needed for EV production.

    13 Photos

    This transformation will begin as soon as January 2024, with the automaker transferring Accord production to its Indiana Auto Plant sometime in 2025. Honda will maintain the Accord’s production volume at its new factory.

    Changes are also coming to Honda’s Anna Engine Plant. The factory will transfer engine production to the company’s Alabama Auto Plant by August 2023, freeing up space at AEP to produce battery cases for EVs one day. In Georgia, the automaker will dedicate one assembly line at its transmission plant for e-axle production, which a Honda supplier will install, own, and operate.

    Honda’s “EV Hub” will involve the Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant, and the Anna Engine Auto Plant. The automaker’s new battery production facility will be at the hub’s heart. The company established a joint venture with LG Energy Solution to build the factory in Ohio, which should be completed by the end of 2024.

    Earlier this month, Honda said it plans to invest at least $40 billion through the decade’s end to increase hybrid and EV sales. The company hopes that electrified vehicles can account for 40 percent of its sales by 2030.

    Honda is off to a slow start compared to its competitors. The company’s new Prologue electric vehicle comes from its partnership with General Motors. The EV rides on GM’s Ultium platform and uses the Detroit automaker’s batteries.

    The changes coming to Honda’s auto plants shouldn’t disrupt staffing levels. The company “expects to maintain employment stability across all locations during these key next steps in the transition.” Starting this year, employees at its Marysville location will begin learning the skills required for EV production.

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  • Honda to move Accord production from Ohio to Indiana as part of EV shift

    Honda to move Accord production from Ohio to Indiana as part of EV shift

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    Marysville will begin preparing for EV production as early as January by consolidating its two production lines to one to enable it to begin building the EV infrastructure, the company said.

    Honda began assembling the Accord at its Marysville in November 1982, making it the first Japanese automaker to produce cars in the United States. It has since produced more than 12.5 million Accords at the Ohio plant.

    In 1989, the Accord was the first Japanese model to hold the title of best-selling U.S. car, with 362,700 vehicles sold.

    In recent years, Americans have been moving away from sedans to sport utility and crossover vehicles. Honda sold 154,600 Accords in the U.S. last year, down 24% from 2021.

    Honda said Accord production will be transferred to its Indiana auto plant, which builds the Civic Hatchback and CR-V.

    Honda’s transmission plant in Georgia will dedicate one production line to e-axle production – a key EV component – and its Anna, Ohio engine plant will shift production of some engine components to a Honda engine plant in Alabama to prepare for production of battery cases for EV models, the company said.

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  • When a timely beer helped Hyundai to a maiden WRC podium

    When a timely beer helped Hyundai to a maiden WRC podium

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    It’s not often that beer and sporting success go hand in hand. However, wind back the clock to Rally Mexico 2014 and this popular beverage played an unlikely, yet vital cameo in saving Hyundai from the heartbreak of throwing away a first World Rally Championship podium at the final hurdle.

    The moment is among motorsport’s strangest stories and has earned a rightful place in WRC folklore. This year Hyundai celebrates its 10th season since it made the bold decision to return to the WRC, where it has since become a force in world rallying. It’s a milestone Hyundai is keen to mark with special branding adorning this year’s i20 Ns. While the marque heads to Mexico with 100 WRC podiums (25 wins) and two manufacturers’ titles under its belt, its success can be traced back to a critical bottle of Corona lager that avoided heartbreak, and the quick thinking Thierry Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul.

    “I mean the WRC has had a lot of stories but that one was definitely a special one,” Neuville, who has contested every round of Hyundai’s latest WRC spell to date, tells Autosport. “At the time it was a new manufacturer coming in to the championship. For me, after I had a good season with Ford, I signed for a new manufacturer and scored its first podium thanks to a bottle of beer, it was a nice headline. It was one of the great moments to remember in the history of WRC.”

    Hyundai wasn’t a new name in WRC parlance in 2014 but this was very much a new dawn for the car maker in rallying’s top flight. Its previous foray into the WRC included success in the short-lived F2 class in the late 1990s, where it recorded a best result of championship runner-up to Renault with its Alister McRae and Kenneth Eriksson driven Coupe Evo 2.

    It then progressed to WRC’s top tier in 2000 with the Accent WRC car but in almost four seasons, two fourth place finishes (Australia, 2000 – Eriksson) and (Great Britain, 2001- McRae) were its best results. Hyundai subsequently ended its arrangement with its British partner Motor Sport Developments (MSD), that developed the car, during the 2003 season. It wasn’t until 2012 that the brand announced plans to return in 2014, with the i20 designed and developed by a new factory team set up in Alzenau, Germany.

    The trip to Mexico’s brutal high altitude rough gravel stages in 2014 was only the third outing for the new i20 and had come off the back of a difficult start to Hyundai’s second spell in WRC. A disastrous double retirement for Neuville and Dani Sordo on the opening stage of the i20’s debut in Monte Carlo was a nightmare scenario, while Neuville and Juho Hanninen crashed out of the following Rally Sweden.

    Hyundai opted for the i20 to carry its challenge on returning to the WRC

    Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

    But when the i20 hit the gravel of Mexico, Hyundai’s fortunes turned. It wasn’t however plain sailing as Neuville battled engine issues early in the rally while his team-mate, former factory Subaru driver Chris Atkinson, was hampered by an electrical issue and a broken right rear suspension on the Friday.

    This edition of Rally Mexico was a particularly brutal affair, which actually favoured the WRC newbies. A crash for Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen, a broken alternator for M-Sport’s Mikko Hirvonen and smashed suspension for Citroen’s Kris Meeke helped elevate Neuville to fifth at the end of Friday, albeit 2m30.2s adrift of runaway leader Volkswagen’s Sebastien Ogier.

    The list of retirements continued to grow on Saturday when second-placed Mads Ostberg damaged the suspension on his Citroen DS3. The relentless high rate of attrition coupled with improved speed from Neuville, lifted the Belgian into the third, 4m37.0s in arrears.

    “We emptied the camel bags at some point, but we had the bottle of beer from the podium that was given instead of champagne. At the end, it was the only option left to save the podium” Thierry Neuville

    It seemed as though a breakthrough first WRC podium for Hyundai was on the cards after Neuville and co-driver Gilsoul held on to secure third on Sunday behind the dominant Volkswagen pair of winner Ogier and team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. The result sparked wild celebrations on the podium, which included the pair receiving a giant one litre bottle of Corona beer, courtesy of the rally sponsors Corona. And it was lucky it wasn’t sprayed or consumed there and then.

    In a matter of moments, jubilation turned to panic as unbeknown to Neuville the run through the final Power Stage had pieced a small hole in the i20’s radiator and coolant had slowly began to drain away. Warning lights ablaze, Neuville brought the car to a halt on the road section and a heartbreaking retirement appeared to be on the horizon. The provisional podium result would only be secured if Neuville and Gilsoul could complete the final 20.5 mile road section to the final service in the rally’s host city Leon.

    “We got a hot temperature alarm and we saw we had a hole in the radiator, so we had to fix it and it was very stressful for us as we still had a long road section to go,” says Neuville.

    To be a successful driver and co-driver in the WRC, being resourceful and able to think on the fly are key attributes. These skills came to the fore as the pair were able to fix the hole in the radiator with their tools in the car, but replacing the lost fluid was more complex. With fluid required to refill the car’s radiator and water from the driver’s and co-driver’s camel bags already gone, Neuville and Gilsoul were desperate. It was at this moment when the pair dived for the bottle of Corona handed to them on the podium as a last resort.

    Neuville's run to Hyundai's first podium was almost knocked off course in the final road section

    Neuville’s run to Hyundai’s first podium was almost knocked off course in the final road section

    Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

    “We were not left with any other choice to be honest,” recalls Neuville. “We emptied the camel bags at some point I think but we had the bottle of beer from the podium that was given instead of champagne. At the end, it was the only option left to save the podium. It was a big one [bottle], but it helped us secure the first podium for the team.”

    Incredibly, it had the desired effect as the i20 brimming with one of Mexico’s finest alcoholic beverages completed the road section to Leon to clinch the podium and decrease the rapidly rising heart rates in the Hyundai camp. This most unexpected of outcomes created a piece of priceless marketing gold for the rally sponsors. To add further gloss to the yarn, last year the story was voted by a panel of experts as one of the 50 greatest moments in WRC history.

    “It is always nice looking back at the footage form the past,” Neuville adds. “I remember that situation. I mean at that time it was very important to secure the first podium for Hyundai in WRC after only three races. We were close to losing it all after the finish of the Power Stage, but we handled it and made some good advertising at the same time. We benefitted from it.”

    While the dramatic scenes still leave many in awe today, it is all part of being rally driver according to Neuville.

    “We are not only drivers and co-drivers, we are also mechanics and we have to make decisions on our own in terms of strategy, tyre choices and tyre management. Sometimes we are out on the stages on our own without phone signal, and if we have a problem we have to solve it in a couple of seconds and take the right decisions. This is what rally is about and what makes it so much more exhausting sometimes than any other motorsport discipline.”

    Podium secured, Hyundai went on to score a third in Rally Poland before Neuville claimed the team’s first WRC win at a chaotic Rally Germany, that incredibly started with Neuville flipping his i20 in Thursday’s shakedown. The unlikely recovery, aided by crashes from Ogier, Latvala and Meeke helped Neuville head Sordo for a one-two on the way to the Belgian finishing sixth in the drivers’ standings. Since then, Hyundai has steadily climbed the rally rankings adding 24 more victories (Neuville scoring 16 of those) in addition to winning back-to-back constructors’ crowns in 2019 and 2020.

    “After the first podium we got the first win and then I’ve had lots of podiums, some nice fights and all good memories and hopefully plenty more to come,” he adds, as he prepares to rekindle some of the magic of 2014 to fire Hyundai to another podium this weekend.

    Rally Mexico winner Sebastien Ogier celebrates with his giant Corona. Neuville found a better use for his...

    Rally Mexico winner Sebastien Ogier celebrates with his giant Corona. Neuville found a better use for his…

    Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

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