This season, Toyota successfully launched its new Rally2 car, which has achieved success both in the WRC2 class and in national rally series. In addition, perennial WRC2 front-runner Skoda and Citroen have also secured wins in the championship’s second tier this year.
In contrast, no Hyundai driver has even reached the podium in WRC2 events this season. In fact, the last time a Hyundai Rally2 car made it to the podium was last summer at the Rally Estonia, when Emil Lindholm finished third in the WRC2 class.
During the 2022 season, the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car managed to secure three victories: Hayden Paddon won in New Zealand, Teemu Suninen in Catalonia, and Gregoire Munster in Japan.
However, this season, Hyundai’s situation in the WRC2 class has appeared hopeless. The car lacks the necessary power to compete in the highly competitive class, and technical issues have plagued both Suninen and Lindholm.
The statistics make for grim reading: Lindholm, who won the WRC2 championship in 2022 with Skoda, has only scored points twice in five WRC starts this season. Suninen, who has also contested five rallies, has failed to score any points. Suninen has already announced that he has no more WRC events scheduled for this season, and Lindholm’s future is also uncertain.
It has long seemed that Hyundai has effectively abandoned its Rally2 project. Now, Hyundai’s WRC team principal and head of Hyundai Motorsport, Cyril Abiteboul, has confirmed that the team is not developing a new version of its Rally2 car.
While there are still plans to update the car, it appears that the development work is nearing its end.
“Developing a new Rally2 is something in the past because, simply, the regulations are also coming to the end of the cycle. On top of that, it’s also true that our car, the i20, is going to be discontinued in a few months from now – well, next year – but we have a bit of time so we are going through a very extensive testing program for the Rally2,” Abiteboul told DirtFish.
“We know that we are on the back foot in terms of performance, competitiveness, reliability. I’m not saying that we will want to address absolutely everything, but we have a clear plan. We have clear targets. We have clear objectives. And we’ve got a clear plan to make that happen.”
Abiteboul acknowledged that the Hyundai Rally2 car has potential, particularly in tarmac rallies. According to the Hyundai boss, one of the goals is to make the car more competitive on tarmac.
In recent years, former WRC star Hayden Paddon has delivered strong results for Hyundai, including winning the European Rally Championship (ERC) title last year. The New Zealander also currently leads this season’s ERC standings.
There is still no clear indication as to whether Hyundai will continue its WRC2 programme. This year, the French team CHL Sport Auto has been responsible for running Hyundai’s Finnish drivers, Suninen and Lindholm, in the WRC.
