Hyundai Hunts Monte Carlo Victory With Audacious Aim
2025 rallye monte carlo 03
Rallye Monte-Carlo beckons, and the team from Alzenau is behaving like a dog that has found a steak. The mission is simple if you are an optimist and borderline delusional: win. The opening round of the WRC serves up 17 stages over 339.15 competitive kilometres, stitched together from Monegasque and French mountain roads where the weather enjoys playing practical jokes. Tyre choice will be the rally’s version of a coin toss played at 150 kph on ice.
The Challenge In Numbers
This is not a scenic Sunday drive. The stages alternate between dry, fast tarmac and treacherously iced hairpins that would make your teeth ache. Expect micro-climates, sudden snow patches and that peculiar Monte Carlo joy of having several types of surface in one stage. Get the tyre call wrong and you will either be slow or spectacularly beached. Get it right and you are either brave or very, very lucky.
Lineup And The Third Car
The squad will field its two full-time crews plus a third car manned by a rotation of drivers. One of those rotation seats brings a return to the championship after an eight-year absence, which injects a bit of mystery and nostalgia into proceedings. The team knows how to win here, having lifted the trophy before, and they have set their sights on doing it again. To add theatrical flair, the third car wears a special livery inspired by French motorsport graphic novels – comic-book flairs on a rally car, which somehow seems entirely appropriate.
Preparation And Pre-Event Testing
The team’s sporting director says the testing programme has been intense, focused on finding the trickiest roads and attempting to recreate the worst conditions Monte Carlo can throw at you. Mother Nature, as usual, ignored the script and shuffled the test plans, which is a surprise to absolutely nobody. Still, the crew worked through a dense schedule to be able to make the best calls on set-up and tyres. In short, they have done the homework, even if the exam will be held on a frozen mountain with a mischievous sense of humour.
Voices From The Cockpit
The lead driver insists Monte Carlo remains the crown jewel and wants the car to be predictable and easy to drive, regardless of surface. Winning here is the sort of scalp any rally driver dreams of, and confidence in the machine is everything. The second permanent driver is delighted to be back in the top-spec car, relishes the mixed conditions and reckons there will be snow, even if it is only lining the roadside like frosting on a cake. The returning driver in the third car admits to nerves and excitement in roughly equal measure, describing the objective as finishing clean and supporting the push for the podium.
That, in a nutshell, is the plan. Bold, slightly mad and utterly appropriate for Monte Carlo. Now all that is left is for the weather to behave like a normal inhabitant of the Alps, which is to say it will not.
Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
