Hyundai's Sordo set for up to eight WRC starts in 2023

Craig Breen looks set to contest less than half of the rounds that make up next season’s FIA World Rally Championship calendar following comments made by his Hyundai team-mate, Dani Sordo.

Jason Craig_1

13 Dec 2022

As part of their deal for 2023, they will share the third works I20 N Rally1 car, with Breen expected to make his debut in the South Korean supermini at Rally Sweden in February alongside James Fulton.

Although the Alzenau-based squad has still to relay exact details about Breen and Sordo’s respective programmes, the Spaniard has already indicated that bosses want him to start eight of the 13 rallies.

It would be a sizeable step back for 32-year-old Breen as he started every event in the 11 months to mid-November with M-Sport before parting ways with them after a disappointing campaign that produced a third-place result at Rallye Monte-Carlo and second at Rally Italia Sardegna.

The opportunity to move across the service park came along when it was announced back in October that young Swede Oliver Solberg had been dropped from Hyundai’s top-tier line-up.

“I have signed a contract to do eight tests [rallies], although later we will see what happens, because the calendar has been reduced from fourteen to thirteen [rounds], and perhaps I will do seven,” World Rally Championship veteran Sordo is quoted as telling daily Spanish sports newspaper, Diario AS.

“I’m in good shape to do seven or eight. I want to do it right. In theory, we start in Monte Carlo which is a complicated rally. When you are there, you have to start the year scoring as many points as possible. If I do eight rallies, I think I can get a good finishing position in the World Rally Championship as well.”

Last month, Breen insisted he was not thinking too much about where and when he will represent Hyundai Motorsport, saying he trusted those within the team to make the correct calls.

With a title tilt out of the question for both him and Sordo, denying Toyota Gazoo Racing and M-Sport as many manufacturers’ points as possible is going to be their number one objective throughout 2023.

“I think I can do a good job for the whole team. With Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi spearheading us, and Breen and I covering their backs a bit, I believe we can do some good rallies,” added Sordo.