WRC – Hyundai will take its time to launch the i20 Coupe

Despite the stability of the technical regulations of WRC in 2015, Hyundai Motorsport will launch its i20 Coupé during the season which will correspond to the new model offered by the Korean manufacturer. The German-Asian structure will, however, start the next season with the old model and still has not no release date communicated for the 2015 version.

“We have started development tests and we will continue them at the beginning of next year”, said Michel Nandan, the director of Hyundai Motorsport, on Motorsport Monday. “We will then see when its introduction into competition will suit us. No date has yet been made official because we want to run it first to assess its level of competitiveness compared to the current version and then we will decide on the date that suits us best. We don't want to rush. »

Hyundai could take quite a long time before launching the i20 Coupé on the WRC specials, the 2015 version having to be completed to face the Citroën DS3, Ford Fiesta RS and other Volkswagen Polo. « We have not yet tested the Coupe version », specified Michel Nandan. “We hope to start them in February. All the work has been done so far with a prototype that is not a modified i20 or Coupe. We also saw photos on the Internet of a Hyundai i30 prepared for the rally, but that has nothing to do with us. »

The Hyundai Motorsport program has not yet been detailed in detail, although the manufacturer recently confirmed Hayden Paddon alongside Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville. “I'm waiting to see if we can do something unexpected, like hiring an expert driver on a type of surface or certain events, but nothing has been decided yet. We remain in good contact with Juho Hänninen and Bryan Bouffier (entered in a Fiesta RS WRC at the Monte-Carlo Rally) but we have no plans for them. Paddon should continue to play in the “N” team although we are aware that this creates limitations, such as with trials where he can only have one day of testing per event. He will start and continue the season with the 2014 car », added the director of Hyundai Motorsport.