Hyundai i20 WRC Finishes 15 Days of Gravel and Tarmac Testing

HyundaiHyundaiRepublic of Korea, 1967 > present79 models
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is running out of development time on the i20 WRCHyundai i20 WRCRepublic of Korea, 2013 > present. The new rally car will start racing in January at the Monte Carlo Rally. The latest round of testing for the car was 15 days of gravel and tarmac testing in Spain and Germany in October.

Hyundai had its test driving team of Juho Hänninen, Bryan Bouffier and Chris Atkinson giving the car a workout over 1,000km (620 miles) of stages and four sessions.

“We now have two latest-spec i20 WRC cars, which allows us to further intensify the development schedule by alternating between the two chassis. Overall, it was a positive month as we managed to test new parts, try different set-up solutions and cover some good mileage with the car,” said Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Michel Nandan.

The team was rushing to develop the car because the final homologation papers had to be filed with the FIA by the end of October. After the papers are filed, the number of changes that Hyundai can make to the car are much more limited.

Hyundai’s tests were designed to simulate the conditions in rallies that it will be taking on next year. The four-day gravel test in Spain simulated the stages in Portugal and Sardinia, and the tarmac test in Germany used some of the same stages at the Rallye Deutschland. The team was testing new suspension components there. The final test moved to Catalonia, Spain, and used the roads from the Rally de España.