Hyundai Podium secures WRC 3 title to round off superb season 14.12.2020: Third place in the final rally of the season at Rally Monza (December 3-6) completed a WRC 3 title winning campaign for i20 R5 crew Jari Huttunen and Mikko Lukka.

 
Third place in the final rally of the season at Rally Monza (December 3-6) completed a WRC 3 title winning campaign for i20 R5 crew Jari Huttunen and Mikko Lukka.



On an event which presented the competing teams with heavy rain and deep snow on stages split between the famous Monza circuit and the foothills of the Italian Alps, the Finnish pair put in a strong performance worthy of the honour they collected.


 
They were the fastest RC2 crew on the opening stage and repeated the achievement on the final stage of Saturday’s running. Their final result – third of both the RC2 and WRC 3 runners– put them eighth overall, equaling their best ever finish on a WRC event and completing a superlative international season to match their dominant form in the Polish national championship.
 



The Monza event also gave Motosport Ireland Rally Academy driver Josh McErlean a WRC debut. Driving maturely in conditions which caught out many far more experienced drivers he scored a 17th placed finish overall – seventh among those crews entered for WRC 3. Umberto Scandola claimed a milestone of his own, giving the i20 R5 its first overall WRC stage win.




The treacherous conditions and the correct decision to take snow tyres for Saturday afternoon’s mountain stages aligned perfectly for the Hyundai Italia-supported driver to top the times on SS11 by over 12 seconds.
 


 

Thomas Villette - photos Hyundai