The team had previously confirmed Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak in its line-up for all 13 rounds and on Wednesday morning announced a blend of Spanish experience and Swedish youth for the remaining car.
Sharing the third car is a policy team principal Andrea Adamo has favoured in recent seasons. The departure of Craig Breen to M-Sport Ford on a two-year deal created the space for Solberg to come in alongside Sordo.
Sordo, 38, has been part of Hyundai’s squad since its debut in 2014. He has won two rallies and scored 13 podiums for the Korean manufacturer.
Twenty-year-old Solberg joined Hyundai this season and has shown strong pace in the WRC2 support category. He has also twice driven a World Rally Car, finishing seventh on his debut in Finland in February. He will make a third appearance in a top-level car at RallyRACC Rally de España (14 – 17 October) next week.
Hyundai has not revealed which events each driver will tackle, but Adamo said Sordo would support the team on events at which he is not competing.
“Not only will Dani drive a selected number of events, but he will also be working with us on events when Oliver steps in. His approach to racing and his extensive experience will be a great asset to our team when our learning curve with new regulations will be high,” he said.
Sordo, who made his WRC debut at his home event in 2003, said he was excited to continue his career into the championship’s hybrid era.
“We have been working together for many years and we have shared some important moments. I am looking forward to even more to come as we prepare for fresh challenges,” he enthused.
“It is important to have consistency as we face new regulations, but we are also fortunate to have new talent like Oliver with us on this new adventure.”
Solberg wants to benefit from competing alongside team-mates who have a combined total of 424 WRC starts between them.
“Rallying is so much about experience,” he said. “Every kilometre you drive, you are learning and I know I have a lot of kilometres to drive. There’s no way to take a shortcut or to cut a corner in this process of learning and taking experience – I have to do this step-by-step.
“To take these steps sharing a car with Dani Sordo is also special for me. I have known Dani and my family has known Dani for a long time – he’s one of the best people [in the WRC] and somebody I can really learn from. But it doesn’t stop there, look at my other team-mates: two of the fastest drivers in the world with Thierry [Neuville] and Ott [Tänak].
“The one thing which will be new for all of us next year is the cars we will drive – with the new hybrid Rally1 era coming. So much will change in the way these cars work and are driven next season – there will be a lot of strategy coming in every stage now.”
