The Hyundai i20 WRC has started testing

Hyundai intends to register your i20 WRC in the 2014 Championship despite the short time the Korean manufacturer has to develop its car. The Alzenau team carried out the shakedown of the car in the middle of May with the aim of validating the basics of the car and encountered no specific problems. This first outing was followed by a test session focused on validating the first settings and collecting data essential in the development of the i20 WRC. The engineers also studied the 1.6l turbo over a total of three days where the car covered 550km.

Eight months before Hyundai's entry into the WRC, the team led by Michel Nandan is working hard to ensure the i20 WRC is ready for the next one. Rally Monte-Carlo contested in January. “The last few months have been very intense at Hyundai Motorsport as we want to be ready for the 2014 WRC Championship.”, underlines the director of the Korean team. “After starting operations in January in Alzenau, we developed the car sufficiently to move from theory to practice. The car is now on the road and I have to admit it was an emotional moment seeing the latest version of the i20 WRC run for the first time. The version currently being tested was initially designed by our colleagues in Korea at the Namyang research and development center. It was then developed and prepared in Alzenau by a team that builds itself day after day. »

Michel Nandan expects to experience an intensive second half so that the Hyundai i20 WRC is ready in time for the first meeting of the season. While the challenge for Alzenau's team will be a difficult one, the team principal's first impressions are already positive. “The feedback from the first tests is quite positive. We are starting off on a good basis. This was essential with the limited time available until the end of the year. We now have important data to analyze before the next steps in our preparation. We will be making various trips to Europe for our testing sessions to test the i20 WRC in different conditions and on different courses which will represent the variety of courses we will encounter in the Championship next year. We will not give specific testing locations or driver names, but we will ensure that all aspects of the car's performance will be tested and evaluated. »