The Sweden podium is Moncet’s Hyundai goal
Deputy team director Moncet said the Alzenau-based team began working through its opening round immediately after last month’s match in the French Alps.
He said that it made good ground in the search for the reliability required to get into the top three with its hybrid-powered i20 N Rally1 cars in the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Umeå on 24-27 February.
Only Thierry Neuville finished Rallye Monte-Carlo, on a low six after a troubled weekend. Ott Tänak retired with an overheated engine after an accident and Oliver Solberg was withdrawn for medical reasons after fumes leaked into the Swede’s sister car.
“We did a review of Monte-Carlo,” Moncet said. “We analyzed the event, the performance and the issues as well as our organization. We have already worked on developing solutions to these points and using them in the test we did in Finland [at the end of January].
“We have some updated parts that we use in the tests and it already shows some promising results. First we have to work with reliability, but then we work with performance.”
Moncet admitted that the Monte-Carlo result was frustrating, but he aims for something better in the WRC’s only clean snow and ice round in northern Sweden.
“We start each rally with the goal of winning,” he said. “Monte was tough for us and that is something we have to turn around. The first goal for me is to have three cars in the finish and I think it is possible to have one of them on the podium. ”