RACE TO ROAD
Hyundai’s remarkable success with the road-going i30 N is no fluke. It’s reflected in the firm’s meteoric rise to the top in world motorsport, too
In the five short years it has been back in the WRC, Hyundai has regularly claimed podium positions in the driver’s and manufacturer’s standings. And now it’s taking circuit racing by storm, too…
IF YOU’RE A CAR BRAND WANTING A quick, easy and cost-effective way of promoting your product, motorsport is not where you should be looking. Choose the World Rally Championship and the odds of success are even slimmer. WRC is perhaps the most brutal and competitive forms of motorsport which has, over the years, tempted in and ruthlessly dispatched some of the biggest names in the automotive business, broken cars in front of millions and pushed the engineering and design skills of manufacturers to their limit. Succeeding in the WRC doesn’t just require deep pockets; it demands guile, innovation and an unwavering commitment to build a car stronger and faster than everyone else’s.
While Hyundai Motorsport is best known for its rally-winning i20 Coupe WRC models, the brand can trace its rallying heritage back to the late ’90s, when factory-prepped Hyundai Coupes propelled Hyundai to second place in the 2-litre category of the WRC. The team stepped up to the main WRC championship in 2000, fielding a succession of four-wheel-drive Accent WRC models over the next three years, snagging a fourth-place finish in the manufacturers’ championship in 2002.
Following a nine-year break – when it transformed its road car range and became one of the industry’s most influential brands – Hyundai announced its return to the World Rally Championship at the 2012 Frankfurt motor show. Headquartered in Alzenau, Germany, Hyundai Motorsport GmbH spent most of 2013 developing the all-new i20 WRC before showing up in 2014 at the start ramp in Monte Carlo.
With Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo alternating with development driver Juho Hänninen, the i20 WRCs proved strong, fast and remarkably resilient for an all-new car. Mexico – round three of 2014 and perhaps the toughest event on the calendar – saw Neuville take a remarkable third-place finish overall. Four more top ten finishes saw Neuville bring his i20 WRC home in first place on Rallye Deutschland, and after just eight events, the all-new i20 WRC was already a World Rally winner. By the end of 2014, the team had claimed four podiums and finished fourth in the WRC manufacturers’ championship.
The next year saw team leader Neuville recording a strong secondplace finish in Sweden and a further podium in Italy alongside Hayden Paddon in a second i20 WRC. Although outright victories eluded the team in 2015, the exceptional strength of the i20 WRC helped Hyundai bag third place in the manufacturers’ standings.
That year also saw the introduction of a new road car range – inspired by and using developments from the brand’s rallying programme. Having already introduced the new ‘N’ nameplate the year before (the second car was entered under the Hyundai
AFTER JUST EIGHT EVENTS, THE ALLNEW I20 WRC WAS ALREADY A WORLD RALLY WINNER