Hyundai Motorsport has confirmed further testing of its New Generation i20 WRC ahead of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship.
The car maker is expected to use its current i20 WRC for the rest of the year’s session, but will debut the new version for the prestigious event in 2016.
A four-day test in Spain focused on the car’s engine and chassis design, as well as altitude testing.
Behind the wheel was test driver Kevin Abbring and his co-driver Sebastian Marshall, alongside Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul.
Team principal Michel Nandan explained the car had originally been planned to make an appearance in the latter half of the 2015 racing session, but there had been a number of production problems.
He added: “This revised schedule gives us extra time to ensure the car is where we want it to be performance-wise. At the same time, the current Hyundai i20 WRC will undergo a number of important updates which we hope will keep us in the fight for podiums this season.”
The Hyundai Motorsport team have enjoyed recent success at the challenging Rally Mexico, with a top-five finish.
Overall, the team took four stage wins with driver Thierry Neuville claiming three fastest times, as well as a Power Stage point in the final stage.
Dani Sordo secured a fifth-place finish – satisfying after he was forced to missed Rally Sweden because of a pre-training accident.
“I have felt at ease with the car this weekend and the performance was competitive on most of the stages,” explained Sordo.
“To come away from this rally with a top-five result is very good, and great that we have been able to add some important points for the Manufacturers’ Championship. I look forward to building on this for Argentina.”
For more articles like this, receive our weekly e-newsletter, including partner deals and all things motoring, register your email below.
Please note: You cannot subscribe to Smart-Motoring unless you put a tick in the checkbox below to indicate have read and agreed to our privacy policy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.