Hyundai punished for administrative failure…in Japan

The story could have made a lot of noise if the result of the final round of the year had not ended in a tie. In the event that Hyundai would have won the Constructors crown, how would they have reacted? Toyota upon learning that the Rally1s used in Asia had an error for which the Korean brand will have to pay a fine of 25 euros? This case is not new and it shows once again the complexity of the homologation system. Before Hyundai, other manufacturers or teams have experienced this kind of problem. What happened in this specific example in Japan?

Following the usual technical checks carried out at the end of the event, the stewards found that the rear differential housings of the i20 Rally1s were non-compliant, as they did not correspond to the i1’s Ra22-02/20 homologation documents. The error was first found on the Belgian’s car and then the officials made the same finding on the Norwegian’s. The FIA ​​technical delegate therefore asked the Stewards to carry out additional analyses after the race. Hyundai had to transport all the rear differentials designated for both cars to the FIA ​​premises in Valleiry (74, south of Geneva) in order to compare these parts with the transmissions deposited with the FIA, as stipulated in the regulations. The boxes were opened on 28 November and further checks were carried out on 5 December. The conclusions were that the physical part filed in 2024 for the homologation of 40/09ERJ (Joker 1C2024) was not correct (externally) and that the photos F5-2 of the homologation form Ra1-22/02 and of 40/09ERJ (Joker1C 2024) were not correct either.

Photo error and suspended fine

The case was handled via videoconference on December 10, during which Christian Loriaux (head of the Hyundai program) WRC) explained that the photo on the homologation form was of the prototype manufactured in 2021. Due to their error, they had neglected to request a correction of the photos attached to the homologation form. For its part, Cyril Abiteboul (President of Hyundai Motorsport) apologized for the mistake and said that Hyundai needed to improve its internal processes to avoid such errors. He also added that the CAD file matched the parts installed in their cars and that this should be taken into consideration to emphasize that they had acted in good faith. These explanations did not prevent Hyundai from being found guilty of violating Article 10.3.3 of the FIA’s 2024 International Sporting Code which states: “ Automobiles must comply with their respective homologation documents. » The manufacturer has, however, avoided exclusion from the event, as clerical errors or mistakes in homologation documents can be classified as "exceptional circumstances." In addition to the €25 fine that will have to be paid, an identical sum is also foreseen if the team does not correct its homologation form before Monte Carlo in January, or if it commits a similar error in 000. Apart from the payment to be made, Hyundai gets off lightly. Indeed, what would have happened if the team had won the title in Japan? Would Tom Fowler, Toyota's restless technical director, have taken it well?