Adrien Fourmaux Frustrated by Hyundai Struggles in Canarias

WRC, Sportrik Media - Adrien Fourmaux admitted frustration with car setup issues after a difficult opening day for Hyundai Motorsport at Rally Islas Canarias 2026.

The French driver ended Friday in seventh place, just ahead of team-mate Thierry Neuville, with both Hyundai drivers trailing significantly behind the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing entries.

Fourmaux acknowledged that while the balance of the car improved during the afternoon loop, it remained far from the level required to compete on the demanding asphalt stages of Gran Canaria.

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“That’s how it is. There are similarities with Croatia and this rally – the bumps and characteristics are linked. We had issues in testing before the rally, and that didn’t help,” Fourmaux explained.

He also highlighted inconsistencies in how setup changes translated from testing to real conditions, describing the situation as difficult to interpret from an engineering standpoint.

“The problem is that some things are not logical with the adjustments. What didn’t work in testing works here – or the opposite. It’s quite crazy, but that’s sometimes how it goes,” he added.

Neuville faced similar challenges and made significant setup changes during Friday’s service in an attempt to improve performance for the latter stages.

“All three cars tried different setups. I was struggling and couldn’t match my team-mates, so we made bigger changes for the final part, and it seems to be going in the right direction,” said Neuville.

Although he reported improved cornering stability, the Belgian driver admitted the overall performance was still below expectations for a competitive result.

He also questioned whether a more aggressive approach to setup changes should have been taken earlier in the event.

“We kept making small changes but were still losing time. Maybe we should have made bigger changes from the beginning,” he noted.

With six special stages scheduled for Saturday, Hyundai faces a critical phase in the rally as it seeks to refine its setup and reduce the performance gap under evolving grip conditions.

The next stages will be decisive in determining whether Hyundai can recover ground or remain outside the leading fight in the Canarias event.