As reported by RallyJournal.com on Tuesday, Hyundai has given up its test area located in Central Finland, which had been in use since 2022.
Read more: Goodbye, Finland! Hyundai’s WRC team makes a surprising move
In the top category of the World Rally Championship, teams are subject to strict limits on the number of test days they are allowed. However, the regulations include one significant exception: teams are permitted to test without restrictions at their designated permanent test base. This precisely defined test area is selected on an annual basis.
Hyundai’s WRC team has now confirmed to RallyJournal.com that its new test base is located in Fontjoncouse and Château de Lastours in southern France. The area is known for its rough gravel roads, where the durability and reliability of rally cars can be thoroughly tested. Several rally teams have previously used the Fontjoncouse roads during the development of their cars.
“We have moved the test base to the south of France from Finland with the objective to help us in the second part of the championship where there will be a lot of rough gravel,” Hyundai’s spokesperson explained to RallyJournal.com.
The second half of the season features gravel rallies only. Among the more demanding events are the rallies in Greece, Sardinia and Saudi Arabia, but Hyundai can also utilise its new test base in preparation for the gravel rallies in Paraguay and Chile.
“The second main reason is logistics as it’s considerably easier to get to France than Finland for us.”
Hyundai’s headquarters are located in Germany near Frankfurt, from where the drive to southern France is just over 1,100 kilometres.
Hyundai Motorsport sporting director Andrew Wheatley told DirtFish in an interview that one of the issues with the team’s previous test base in Jämsä, Central Finland, was the need to constantly maintain roads that were in public use. In addition, good relations had to be maintained with local residents living along the test roads. In France, Hyundai is able to fine-tune its Rally1 car on roads that are used primarily for testing purposes.
The World Rally Championship season will get under way in two weeks’ time with Rally Monte Carlo.
