Hyundai's revised automotive for the 2025 World Rally Championship season will feature “some sensible changes” as a test phase of the upgrades continued last weekend.
The Korean manufacturer had planned to homologate a virtually all-new version of its i20 N Rally1 for next yr before plans were abandoned because of uncertainty over the 2025 regulations.
After the FIA ​​modified the technical regulations for 2025 following objections from teams, Hyundai managed to salvage a few of its i20 N development plans with an agreement to submit 2026 development jokers to be used within the 2025 campaign.
This means the team has 4 Jokers that they are going to use to finish quite a few updates to their automotive which have yet to be revealed.
Hyundai has been testing its improved automotive in recent months, and the project continued eventually weekend's La Nucia-Mediterraneo Rally, where championship leader Thierry Neuville assessed a number of the improvements.
Neuville was joined by teammate Andreas Mikkelsen within the 2024-spec i20 N, because the pair also logged useful tarmac kilometers ahead of next week's season finale in Japan. The Rally Japan will determine the drivers' and manufacturers' titles. Neuville will lead Tanaka by 25 points, while Hyundai is 15 points ahead of Toyota.
Hyundai WRC program manager Christian Loriaulx didn’t comment on the main points of changes to next yr's automotive, but suggested there can be some significant differences.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
“We don't want to say too much what we're doing for next year,” Loriaulx told Motorsport.com.
“It was preparation for Japan for Mikkelsen and for Thierry, we’re serious about just a few things for next yr.
“We have submitted the homologation documents and it remains to be within the testing phase, but for next yr and 2026 we’ve got 4 jokers. I might say we expect reasonable changes, but I can't say greater than that.
“We are within the testing phase and it is sort of busy because we’d like to prove reliability and increase performance.
“We know that what we do will end in good weight gain, but we’d like to work on reliability. We tested it in very harsh conditions and thus far it has proven to be reliable. Now we're working on set – up and I'll see what it’s going to appear to be.
Hyundai will once more field full-time drivers Neuville and Otto Tanak next yr, with plans for a 3rd automotive to be announced after the season finale in Japan. M-Sport's Adrien Fourmaux is heavily tipped to take over.
Hyundai's future within the WRC beyond 2025 can also be yet to be confirmed because of the brand's entry into the World Endurance Championship in 2026 under the Genesis banner.
