Kevin Abbring

Kevin Abbring
Kevin Abbring in 2013
Personal information
NationalityNetherlands Dutch
Born (1989-01-20) 20 January 1989 (age 35)
World Rally Championship record
Active years2007–2012, 2014–2018, 2020–2021
Co-driverNetherlands Harmen Scholtalbers
Belgium Erwin Mombaerts
Belgium Bjorn Degandt
Belgium Lara Vanneste
Belgium Frédéric Micoltte
United Kingdom Sebastian Marshall
Belgium Martijn Wydaeghe
Belgium Pieter Tsjoen
TeamsKNAF Talent First, Hyundai
Rallies39
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums0
Stage wins1
Total points10
First rally2007 Rallye Deutschland
Last rally2021 Monte Carlo Rally

Kevin Abbring (born 20 January 1989) is a Dutch rally driver. His father, Edwin Abbring, is also a well-known former rally driver.

Career

Abbring started his motorsport career in Rallycross with a 60 bhp strong buggy for newcomers, winning the 2005 and 2006 titles of the Dutch Ford RST series. In 2007 he competed in the Dutch Rally Championship with a Mitsubishi Colt. He also made his World Rally Championship debut in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. In 2008 he began competing in the Junior World Rally Championship in a Renault Clio R3, with backing from KNAF Talent First. He took his first JWRC win on the 2009 Rally Poland, on his way to fourth in the final standings for 2009.[1] In 2010 he won the JWRC in Portugal. He has also competed in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, winning the 2WD category in Ypres and Zlín. In October 2011 Abbring won the Driver of the academy award for the inaugural FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy.

After a successful trial rally for Volkswagen Motorsport driving a Škoda Fabia S2000 car at 2011 Wales Rally GB he signed with Volkswagen for the 2012 WRC season driving one of their Fabia's, sharing the second seat alongside Sebastien Ogier with Andreas Mikkelsen. Sadly, he was offered very few outings by VW in 2012 and didn't rally in the WRC at all in 2013.

In 2013 he won the French Peugeot 208 Rally Cup, leading to Peugeot Sport offering him a drive in the European Rally Championship in their new Peugeot 208 T16 R5 car.

Plagued with technical issues, Abbring took the lead in 5 ERC events, but was forced to retire with engine trouble on all event except Azores, (where he finished 2nd after falling back from the lead with mechanical issues) and the Tour de Corse, where he finished 3rd.

In January 2015, it was announced he would be the main testdriver for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship. While his main focus would be the development of the new Hyundai i20 WRC, Abbring and Seb Marshall were also entered on selected WRC events later in the year.[2]

He took his first stage win and first points at the 2016 13º Rally d'Italia Sardinia. He won his first international rally at the wheel of a Hyundai i20 R5 at the French Rallye du Var in 2016. In 2017, he was the first Dutchman ever to win the biggest rally of Belgium, the Ypres Rally, at the wheel of a Peugeot 208 R5.

Results

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar/RX1

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WRX Points
2019 ES Motorsport-Labas GAS Škoda Fabia UAE BAR BEL GBR NOR
4 		SWE
4 		CAN FRA LAT RSA 16th 35
2020 GCK UNKORRUPTED Renault Clio R.S. RX SWE SWE FIN
17 		FIN
13 		LAT LAT ESP ESP 25th 4
2021 Unkorrupted Renault Mégane R.S. BAR
6 		SWE
3 		FRA
4 		LAT
8 		LAT
8 		BEL
7 		PRT GER GER 7th 97

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
2007 KNAF Talent First Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII MON
 SWE
 NOR
 MEX
 POR
 ARG
 ITA
 GRE
 FIN
 GER
41 		NZL
 ESP
 FRA
 JPN
 IRE
 GBR
 NC 0
2008 KNAF Talent First Renault Clio R3 MON
 SWE
 MEX
 ARG
 JOR
Ret 		ITA
Ret 		GRE
 TUR
 FIN
33 		GER
34 		NZL
 ESP
40 		FRA
30 		JPN
 GBR
 NC 0
2009 KNAF Talent First Renault Clio R3 IRE
22 		NOR
 CYP
 POR
19 		ARG
 ITA
Ret 		GRE
 POL
11 		FIN
Ret 		AUS
 ESP
27 		GBR
 NC 0
2010 KNAF Talent First Renault Clio R3 SWE
 MEX
 JOR
 TUR
15 		NZL
 POR
21 		BUL
21 		FIN
 GER
Ret 		JPN
 FRA
Ret 		ESP
 GBR
 NC 0
2011 Volkswagen Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 SWE MEX POR JOR ITA ARG GRE FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR
12 		NC 0
2012 Volkswagen Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 MON
12 		SWE MEX
Ret 		POR
DNS 		ARG GRE NZL FIN GER GBR
25 		FRA ITA ESP NC 0
2014 Peugeot Rally Academy Peugeot 208 T16 MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA
14 		ESP GBR NC 0
2015 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 WRC MON SWE
11 		MEX ARG POR ITA POL
15 		FIN GER
11 		AUS FRA
Ret 		ESP GBR NC 0
2016 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 WRC MON SWE MEX ARG POR
Ret 		ITA
15 		POL FIN
9 		GER CHN
C 		ESP
7 		AUS 16th 10
Hyundai i20 R5 FRA
Ret 		GBR
Ret
2017 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 R5 MON
31 		SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS NC 0
2018 Kevin Abbring Ford Fiesta R5 MON
Ret 		SWE
Ret 		MEX FRA ARG POR
Ret 		ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS NC 0
2020 Kevin Abbring Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MON SWE MEX EST TUR ITA MNZ
15 		NC 0
2021 Pieter Tsjoen Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MON
20 		ARC CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRE FIN ESP MNZ NC 0

WRC-2 results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Points
2016 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 R5 MON SWE MEX ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER CHN
C 		FRA
Ret 		ESP GBR
Ret 		AUS NC 0
2018 Kevin Abbring Ford Fiesta R5 MON
Ret 		SWE
Ret 		MEX FRA ARG POR
Ret 		ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS NC 0

JWRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 JWRC Points
2008 Knaf Talent First Renault Clio R3 MEX JOR
Ret 		ITA
Ret 		FIN
6 		GER
6 		ESP
11 		FRA
8 		13th 7
2009 Knaf Talent First Renault Clio R3 IRE
5 		CYP POR
2 		ARG ITA
Ret 		POL
1 		FIN
Ret 		ESP
4 		4th 27
2010 Knaf Talent First Renault Clio R3 TUR
3 		POR
1 		BUL
7 		GER
Ret 		FRA
Ret 		ESP 5th 46

ERC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Points
2014 Peugeot Rally Academy Peugeot 208 T16 AUT LVA GRC
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		PRT
2 		BEL
Ret 		EST CZE
Ret 		CYP ROU CHE
Ret 		FRA
3 		6 63

Overall rally victories

Year Event Car Championship
2016 France Rallye du Var Hyundai i20 R5 French
2017 Belgium Rallye de Wallonie Peugeot 208 R5 Belgian
2017 Belgium Ypres Rally Peugeot 208 R5 TER, Belgian, British

References

  1. ^ "Kevin Abbring". Results. ewrc-results. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Hyundai signs Kevin Abbring to part-time WRC deal for 2015". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
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