Dani Sordo brought new ideas and a “breath of fresh air” to Hyundai amid its ongoing battle to find answers for its performance struggles in the World Rally Championship, according to team boss Andrew Wheatley.
Struggles extracting consistent speed from the i20 N Rally1, which has a narrow operating window, left Hyundai firmly on the back foot this year in its battle with Toyota. Thierry Neuville claimed after last weekend’s Rally Islas Canarias that “nobody knows” the answer to the team’s issues with its car.
Last weekend marked Sordo’s first Rally1 start for 19 months after finishing second at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece in 2024. It was also his first asphalt outing since Rally Japan in 2023.
The WRC veteran had thought his days in Rally1 might have been over after being on the WRC sidelines last year as his focus switched to fending off Kris Meeke to win the Portuguese national rally championship.
Now with a deal to share Hyundai’s third car in 2026, the three-time WRC rally winner quickly adjusted to life back in Rally1 on the Spanish Island – ending Friday’s leg as the top Hyundai driver in sixth. The 42-year-old was unable to replicate that speed through the remaining stages, but banked solid points and finished the rally in seventh.
Sordo’s contribution to the team stretched far beyond simply impressing in the stages, as the experienced driver was able to offer up new ideas for the team to explore in its quest to close the gap to Toyota.
“He [Dani] has been great. Dani has been a breath of fresh air for the team,” said Wheatley. “He has slightly different ideas to try on the set-up and he’s got a really super smooth efficient driving style, and he brought a smile to every meeting.
Daniel Sordo, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
“He started the rally at full speed and that is exactly what we need when we come to Portugal and Greece is that breath of fresh air and that super fired up Dani. He has done the job that all the third drivers have done this year, which has really helped us to try and improve as much as we can.
“One of the big positives from this weekend is that Dani has had a full rally to learn the car and the team, his technicians and his engineers, and get back to what the WRC is about, and he can really contribute and help us for Portugal.”
It was clear from Sordo’s enthusiasm during stage end interviews just how much he enjoyed driving a Rally1 car even if Hyundai struggled to take the fight to Toyota. And now his focus turns to another outing next week in Portugal, where he has finished on the podium seven times.
“For sure, we enjoyed it. We were expecting it would be difficult here and at the beginning we had a little bit more expectation, but at the end it was difficult,” said Sordo.
“Now it is done and we need to think of solutions for the team for Japan, but we need to be focused on Portugal.
“The rally in general and being back in the Rally1 class on these stages was super nice. We struggled a bit with the car, and it was very difficult to fight the Toyotas.
“Between the three Hyundais, it was a nice fight but, in the end, we don’t want to just fight ourselves. We will have a good starting position in Portugal, so we hope to be competitive there and we will see what happens.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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