Hyundai Gear Up For Down Under

Experience will play a crucial role for the Hyundai World Rally Team, heading for the penultimate round of the 1999 World Rally Championship in Perth, Australia between the 4th-7th of November.

Both Hyundai drivers, Kenneth Eriksson and Alister McRae, have already experienced success in Australia, Eriksson winning the event outright in 1995 and McRae winning Formula 2 in 1998. This experience will prove invaluable on the surface, where the gravel roads are covered with stones which behave like ball bearings. And a return to gravel, after the asphalt roads of Italy, will be welcomed by the team, since it is in conditions such as these that the Hyundai Coupe Evo2 excels.

A good result in Australia is essential for the team to close the gap to Renault in the FIA 2-litre World Cup for Manufacturers. The French manufacturer leads Hyundai by 29 points, and with 32 points available to Hyundai from Australia and Great Britain, the championship is by no means decided. It does means that the Korean manufacturer needs at least a first and third in Australia but having scored three one/twos already this year and a further win in Greece, the team is optimistic.

"First and third is a tall order but we're more than capable of doing it," said McRae, after a successful test of the team's 2000 contender, the Hyundai Accent WRC. "Both [Australia and Great Britain] are gravel rallies which suit our car and we've won on loose surfaces four times so far this year. It's not going to be easy, especially now Renault are going to Australia - they've got good drivers in Tapio [Laukannen] and Martin [Rowe] - but we're confident we can beat them."

McRae's team-mate, Eriksson echoed his sentiments; "Australia is one of the most challenging events, because the gravel is like ball bearings and there are no ditches between the roads and the trees. There's no margin for error, yet you have to be fully committed. But we have a good idea of what to expect and know what's expected of us. We have a good chance of getting our fifth win of the year."

The event kicks off on the evening of Thursday 7th with the familiar Langley Park super stage, before heading east for the first day and south for day two. The last day sees the crews head for the Bunnings area and the finish. The crews cover a total of 399 stage kilometres and a total distance of 1423 Km. Perth is GMT + 8 hours.

Neil Blackbourn is attending Rally Australia and will bring us his superb shots and story as soon as he can - don't miss it.

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