Team MRF Tyres will continue the aggressive development push at next round of the FIA European Rally Championship at the Azores Rallye that takes place on the Portuguese archipelago.
For the Azores Rallye, Spanish ace and multiple World Rally Championship winner, Dani Sordo joins the team to drive the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5.
Sordo is the third driver to compete in the Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i29 R5 in 2021 after Craig Breen started the year, taking a podium in Rally Liepaja, and Jari Huttunen competed in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin.
The development program now has a rotational roster of drivers, with the cooperation of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing.
After two rallies in a row on tarmac, the FIA European Rally Championships starts the second half of the season on gravel with the 55th Azores Rallye.
Sordo and Team MRF Tyres will compete over 13 stages and 201.94km of competitive action.
For many rally fans, Sordo needs no introduction. A WRC veteran with 174 starts to his name, he has taken three overall wins, two with the Hyundai World Rally Team. Additionally, he has won the Junior World Rally Championship and the Spanish Rally Championship in 2005.
He has made just one appearance in the European Rally Championship. In 2018 he started the Barum Czech Rally Zlin a Hyundai i20 R5, taking third place.
His mission for MRF Tyres will follow the strategy that the team has been following for the past two seasons – that is data gathering and tyre development for the next generation of MRF rally tyres.
MRF Tyres is taking advantage of its unique position to access multiple drivers from the Hyundai stable to help provide additional experiences to its development program.
In addition, MRF Tyres have engaged the services of Paolo Andreucci, Simone Campedelli, Tamara Molinaro and Emil Lindholm in testing and competition to help gather data for the development of the tyres.
Round five of the FIA European Rally Championship, the Azores Rallye will take place from 16-18 September and you can follow the progress of Team MRF Tyres on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Quotes
Dani Sordo, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“I am really excited to do the Azores Rallye with Team MRF Tyres and the Hyundai i20 R5. The Azores Rallye is an amazing rally to drive. I will give a lot of information for the tyres. We will use this rally as a test for the development of MRF Tyres.”
“We will be there to get more information, to get a good result and to work with the MRF Tyres.”