Hyundai’s rally team faces a mystery in Sweden – no speed despite intensive preparation – even radical changes to the setup are of little help
The winter rally in Sweden proved to be a tough test for Hyundai. As was the case at the 2026 season opener in Monte Carlo, they were unable to keep up with their rivals Toyota. The South Korean brand had actually hoped to fight back in Sweden, as the team had prepared intensively for the rally.
After the first stage, Esapekka Lappi, the best Hyundai driver, was already 45.9 seconds behind. After the second stage, the Finn, the best Hyundai driver, was already 1:09.5 minutes behind.
Adrien Fourmaux noted on Saturday that the lack of speed could possibly have something to do with the dampers. He felt that the car was floating on the road and the tires weren’t gripping properly. This meant there was no grip and no traction.
Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville therefore used Saturday as a test drive. “Yes,” confirms Neuville. “I’ve become quite radical with the changes. I drove without the rear stabilizer in the afternoon, and we also tried it without the front one.”
“I experimented a lot with the car balance, more and less rake, different preloads. I really tried a lot of things. It was always a close call to get to the start of the stage on time.”
When asked if he was running out of ideas, he added: “Yes, definitely. I was under a bit of pressure because I had promised my wife that I would set the fastest time. I had forgotten the flowers [for Valentine’s Day].”
“She said I had to set the fastest time, so I tried.” Neuville actually succeeded. He set the fastest time in the short “Umea Sprint” super special stage. However, he couldn’t enjoy it for long. Onboard footage showed that Neuville had not fastened the chin strap of his helmet properly during this super special stage. The FIA stewards imposed a one-minute penalty and a fine of €1,500.
Adrien Fourmaux finds hope
Teammate Fourmaux also tested modified damper settings on Saturday, which made the ride quite hard for him and co-driver Alexandre Coria. However, the change provided more grip. That gave the Frenchman hope.
“I noticed that something wasn’t working with the dampers, so I decided, together with the team, to compensate for this with the springs and open the dampers properly. And it seems that this worked much better in the afternoon.”
“That’s definitely positive,” said Fourmaux. “It will be difficult to compete with the Toyotas, but at least we showed a little more speed with all three cars in the afternoon. The car had significantly more grip, but at the same time it became more sluggish.”
“It’s a shame we didn’t find that earlier. We tried so many things: differentials, springs, geometries, ride height – nothing brought any improvements. That was the only really big step forward. I think we can get it under control for the rest of the season.”
After the winter rally in Sweden, the Safari Rally in Kenya is on the agenda in mid-March. On gravel, we will see whether Hyundai can close the gap to Toyota.
