The car of For 2025 will see “some reasonable changes”, as the testing phase of updates continued last weekend.
The Korean manufacturer had planned to approve a practically new version of its i20N Rallye1 for next year before the arrival of the new 2025 regulation, which remains an uncertainty.
After the FIA's 180-degree turn on the 2025 technical regulations following team protests, Hyundai was able to salvage part of its i20 N development plans thanks to an agreement to bring forward its 2026 wildcard development and use in 2025.
This means that The team has four jokers which you will use to complete a series of upgrades to your car that have not yet been revealed.
Hyundai has been testing its car for the past few months, testing continuing this past weekend at the La Nucia-Mediterranean Rallywhere the leader of the WRC championship, Thierry Neuvilleevaluated some of the improvements.
Neuville was joined by his teammate Andreas Mikkelsenwho drove a 2024-spec i20 N, while the duo also racked up valuable tarmac mileage ahead of this season's final test at next week.
For the moment, with only one meeting remaining, Neuville is ahead of Tanak by 25 points, while Hyundai is 15 points ahead of Toyota in the manufacturers' standings.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai WRC Program Director Christian Loriaulxdid not disclose details of the changes for next year's car, but hinted that there would be significant differences.
“We don’t want to say too much about what we will do for next year,” Loriaulx said. . “It was a preparation for Japan for Mikkelsen, while with Thierry we were thinking about some things for next year.”
“We have submitted the homologation documents and they are still in the testing phase, but for next year and 2026 we have four wildcards. I would say we are looking at a reasonable change but I can't say more.”
“We are in the testing phase and it's quite busy, because we have to demonstrate reliability and gain performance. We know that what we are going to do will mean a good weight saving, but we have to work on reliability. We “We've done it testing in very difficult conditions and so far it's been reliable. Now we're working on the settings and we'll see how everything goes,” he added.
Hyundai will still count next year with Neuville and Ott Tanak as full-time drivers, while plans for their third car will be announced after the end of the season in Japan. Adrien Fourmauxof M-Sportis one of the leading candidates for this seat.
Hyundai's future in WRC beyond 2025 also to be confirmed after the arrival of the brand to from 2026 under its Genesis sub-brand.
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