Hyundai Motorsport has released this Tuesday its line-up for both the Spain – Catalunya and the Wales – Great Britain Rallies. Spaniard Dani Sordo is one of the drivers that will take part in the last before one race of the World Rally Championship Calendar 2019, which will take place in his country from the 24th to the 27th of October.

This will be Dani Sordo’s eight rally of the current WRC season, after also competing in Corsica, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Sardinia, Germany and Turkey. 

Finishing with the Spanish appointment, Dani Sordo will complete his scheduled race calendar for 2019, saying goodbye to fans at the Rally Catalunya. Just as he has previously, the Spaniard will take the controls of an i20 WRC.

Team leader Thierry Neuville and Sebastian Loeb will complete the line-up for the Spanish race, the last before one date of the WRC 2019, before the grand finale in Australia. 

With regards to the British appointment (2-6 October), the chosen drivers have been Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen (as per his contractual obligations) and Craig Breen, who returned to the competition in Finland. 

Hyundai leads the Constructors’ Standings with 289 points, just 8 points more than their Toyota rivals. At the Driver Standings, their Belgian head of ranks is currently second. 38 points ahead and leading the rank is Ott Tänak. Those positions consolidated after Neuville only managing a fourth place in Germany, and even that fourth place was only thanks to Sordo.

Dani Sordo’s great exhibition in Argentina

Dani Sordo has won the Neuquen Rally in Argentina with great authority this weekend, onboard a Hyundai i20 R25. The Spaniard took the start of the Argentinian rally determined to show both the public and local drivers the power harnessed by the oriental missile. 

The i20 R25 model was given the green light to compete three years ago by the racing department of the Korean firm. Commercial reasons have therefore been behind the decision to take the vehicle to South American between the German and Turkish Rallies.

Hyundai’s Brand Executive Andrea Adamo made the decision considering the crucial role that these kinds of promotional activities have within the commercial policies and strategies of vehicle manufacturers. 

Regardless of the reasons that took the Spaniard to Argentina, it is undeniable that Dani Sordo is going through a great moment in his career. He has had four wins so far this season matching those of his extraordinary year of 2005.

His first triumphs of 2019 was at Fafe and Sardo, only to be followed by his greatest achievement of the year: Winning the Rally Corsica. 

It seems as if the 36-year-old driver is going through a second youth, removed from the pressures of having to complete a full World Rally Championship season. At the South American Rally, where no rival has been his match, he has raced within the Chilean team, Ponta Cola Racing. 

With no time to rest after the German Rally, where he finished in fifth place, and after taking part in some test sessions in France in preparation for Rally Turkey, Sordo flew to Patagonia. At Neuquen, a town 900 kilometres west of Buenos Aires, Sordo shone again. 

Before a devoted audience and despite the tough competitors he faced, Dani Sordo dominated the Argentinian race from beginning to end, winning every stage but one. His superiority gave him a winning advantage of almost two minutes with second classified, Miguel Baldoni and Nico Diaz who was third. 

After his South American adventure, he is back in Europe for the eleventh rally of the WRC calendar. Rally Turkey will take place from the 12th to the 15th of September. In Turkey, Sordo will start from behind, a great advantage to try and conquer the first positions at the start of the race. 

Dani Sordo’s image: Hyundai Motorsport.