Hyundai are close to completing their final preparations for the 2016 Hyundai i20 WRC as it heads to the first rally of the year in Monte Carlo next month.
In a gruelling regime the new generation Hyundai i20 has undergone 8,000km of testing across several test sessions on both gravel and tarmac in four separate countries Germany, France, Finland and Spain since March 2015.
Team Principal Michel Nandan said: “We are approaching the final phase of preparation for our New Generation i20 WRC ahead of its debut in the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship. Since March, we have completed around 8,000km in stage conditions with the car, on both gravel and tarmac. We have carried out an average of one test per month with the new car, including a test this week in France, which ends tomorrow. For a young team like ours, to run an intensive testing programme alongside a heightened WRC campaign has been quite an achievement but we now embark on some important milestones. We all look forward to officially unveiling the new car in Alzenau next week, before concluding the all-important homologation process with the FIA. From there, we can really start the 2016 season. We have covered different types of terrain and rally conditions in testing so far, but we haven’t yet run the car on snow, so that’s something we will carry out later this month, both as part of the car development but also as a pre-event test for Rally Sweden. These are exciting times for Hyundai Motorsport as we conclude final preparations for the debut of the New Generation i20 WRC in Rallye Monte-Carlo next month.”
Unfortunately the next generation Hyundai i20 has been ruled out for Australia. So until the WRC circus roles around 2016 this is the closet we will get to seeing it.
