Adamo settling for nothing less than Arctic Rally victory

Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal, Andrea Adamo, has set the bar high for his three World Rally Championship crews ahead of this weekend’s Arctic Rally Finland. After a disappointing result on Rally Monte-Carlo, Adamo is aiming to bounce back to the top on the Finnish snow rally.

“It’s no secret that our season didn’t begin in the way we had planned in Monte-Carlo,” admitted Adamo. “Arctic Rally Finland gives us the opportunity to rectify this.

“All three drivers have finished on the podium in previous full-snow events, so we know they are capable of great speed in tricky conditions.

“A brand-new event is an exciting challenge, but there is no room for resting on laurels.

“We will have to be at the top of our game on all three days – nothing less than victory will be a good result.”

Hyundai will face stiff competition from chief rivals Toyota whose Yaris WRC was developed in Finland.

Adamo is in no mood for excuses though and he knows each of his three crews has the potential to win the snow rally.

Theirry Neuville won Rally Sweden three years ago for Hyundai and Craig Breen was runner-up on the same event during his final year with Citroen.

Ott Tanak, however, is probably Hyundai’s most likely Arctic Rally winner. The Estonian finished second to Elfyn Evans on Rally Sweden last year and has won the previous two runnings of Rally Finland.

With snow expected to fall and lie afresh on Arctic Rally stages this week, Breen and Tanak’s lowly road positions may play into their hands on Friday. They will start behind their rivals on the 31-kilometre Sarriojarvi stage which runs twice on the opening day of Arctic Rally Finland.

Breen, who is hunting down his maiden WRC win, is hoping to start his season off on the right foot.

“We can be quite sure that we will have cold weather and big snowbanks at Arctic Rally Finland.

“It’s important for Paul and me to start our season in the right way.

“It will take a bit of time to get back into the swing of things again, but we can’t wait for it.”

Photos courtesy of Hyundai Motorsport