Breaking news

WRC

Hyundai denies Loeb deal done despite talks

The Hyundai WRC team will start next season with an unchanged line-up, despite speculation that Sebastien Loeb has signed with the Korean manufacturer.

David Evans

Published: Dec 6, 2018, 11:54 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Sébastien Loeb, Team Peugeot Total

Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo will run a trio of factory i20 Coupe WRCs at round one in Monte Carlo, while Hayden Paddon is likely to replace Sordo for Rally Sweden.

Hyundai team manager Alain Penasse said the team had talked to Loeb, but nothing had moved forward.

“We talked to him like we talked to everybody,” he told Motorsport.com. “That is logical in our position.

"But I don’t understand where all the fuss came from. There was a story in the media about Loeb not being picked up by Citroen – I don’t know why this is – and everybody picked up on it.

"I don’t know what he’s doing. Is he doing rallycross? I have no idea. We know what will be our team in Monte, there won’t be a surprise here.”

More WRC news:

Asked about Paddon’s future, Penasse was full of praise for the Kiwi, adding: “After Rally Australia he’s in pole position for the seat. There was talk about us talking to [Elfyn] Evans and [Craig] Breen, but this has not really gone any further.

“Hayden did everything we asked of him this season, he had a really good year. It’s difficult for Hayden to stay concentrated because of all this stuff in the media about him losing his seat and blah, blah, blah.

"I understand the media has a job to do, but, honestly, some people are making some things up and they even begin to believe their own stories!

“An example of this is our trip to Korea. We had this trip planned for months, to go and take 151 staff from Hyundai Motorsport out to see our colleagues in Korea. Then suddenly this has become some sort of debrief about the season.

"It’s the same next week, we have some people coming from Korea, which has always been planned to look forward for the next season. This is the normal life, but some people are wanting to make more of it.”

Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan has consistently talked of repeating this year’s split programme between Sordo and Paddon.

While Paddon wants to return to a full season as soon as possible, the New Zealander told Motorsport.com his priority was to remain with Hyundai.

Paddon said: “I feel we did a good job this year and tried our best to work with the team and make sure we brought home solid results on each rally.

"The two rallies where there was a little less pressure to just finish, where we could focus on performance [in Portugal and Australia], we were mixing it at the front. That’s something I know we can do more regularly.

"Naturally, I would like to be doing a full season again and I still back myself to achieve much more in the WRC, but I’m also realistic in what options we presently have.

"We have worked hard with Hyundai Motorsport and the Hyundai brand globally and that’s a partnership that means a lot for me moving forward.”

Hayden Paddon, Sebastian Marshall, Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Meeke paired with Paddon's former co-driver at Toyota

Next article Rovanpera could make 2020 WRC step despite Skoda contract

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

48 min

Esteban Ocon responds to Haas signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027

Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h

Tim Clark wants NASCAR to be better storytellers to counter "brand perception problem"

Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Talladega II

2 h

Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent

Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h

Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"

Feature

Discover prime content

A story of persistence as Elfyn Evans' long wait for WRC glory finally ends

WRC

Rally Italy

By Tom Howard

A story of persistence as Elfyn Evans' long wait for WRC glory finally ends

How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

WRC

Rally Italy

By Tom Howard

How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

What a revival of the World Rally Championship could look like

WRC

By Tom Howard

What a revival of the World Rally Championship could look like

How Oliver Solberg lit up WRC title fight in Chile

WRC

Rally Chile

By Tom Howard

How Oliver Solberg lit up WRC title fight in Chile

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts