An historic maiden win for HMI; the first victory for the young Italian firm came in the opening round of the 2015 International Rally Cup with Corrado Fontana and Giovanni Agnese.
On the difficult island roads of Elba, the driver from Como, increasing the feeling with the Korean car, went in the lead of the overall standings in the third special stage, holding the position until the finish.
The valuable work of the technical staff of HMI led the i20 WRC on the top podium step in what was only the second event of the season.
Corrado Fontana: “We are delighted with this first win with Hyundai! Furthermore as it was gained in one of the most evocative contexts we have in Italy, as the Rallye dell’Isola d’Elba. A perfect Car and Team, without the slightest smear. The Rally 1000 Miglia was only a "first taste" of the car. We came to Elba after an intense day of testing which enabled us to adapt the Hyundai to the Pirelli tyres and to the characteristics of the Italian roads. The result is the greatest reward for all the people who are working on this new project. This year the race proved even tougher than last year, when I won with the Focus WRC; as an evidence of this, there have been many offs. We tried to constantly keep a good pace without ever taking risks and in the end we got what we wanted right from the start: a win!".
Final Standings Rallye Elba:
1. Fontana - Agnese (Hyundai i20 WRC) in 1:29'50.8, 2. Michelini - Perna (Citroen DS3 R5) + 31.8, 3. Di Cosimo - Papa (Ford Focus WRC) + 2'35.5, 4. Cogni - Pollicino (Peugeot 207 S2000) + 3'29.6, 5 Rusce - Barone (Subaru Impreza WRC) + 3'40.7