Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Today the wraps were finally taken off the 'new generation' Hyundai i20 WRC, which was originally meant to debut mid way through the 2015 season but will instead start its first WRC event on January's Rallye Monte-Carlo. The car has undergone 8,000km of testing, and is rumoured to be faster than its predecessor. As for the driver line-up, the same 4 drivers as 2015 will compete for Hyundai throughout 2016: Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon and Kevin Abbring. However, unlike 2015, there is no first team line up set in stone, with Neuville, Sordo and Paddon all being rotated throughout the season so Hyundai can get the most out of each drivers' skill set to boost manufacturer scoring. The lead driver (who will compete for the main team on at least 10 of the 14 rallies) has not been announced, but it's expected to be Belgian Thierry Neuville. Kevin Abbring will once again get a few rallies in an i20 WRC, but his main job for 2016 is to develop the 2017 model and to compete in the new i20 R5. Hopefully, we can see Kevin compete in WRC2, ERC and maybe even the BRC in 2016 in the new R5 car. Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Along with the new car comes bolstered expectations from the team, who almost finished 2nd in the 2015 WRC Manufacturers Championship, as Team Principal Michel Nandan explained. "We have come a long way since our inaugural foundation year, and our performance in last season's Championship gave us renewed optimism for the future," he said. "The New Generation i20 WRC is the product of a full year of development and with a more experienced team of staff, we should now raise our objectives to be more confident to fight at the front." "The competition remains strong and we know our manufacturer rivals will not ease in their pursuit for victory but we want to take the fight to them in 2016." It would be great if we could finally see somebody properly take the fight to the dominant VWs! Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport
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WRCArticles covering the World Rally Championship Archives
January 2018
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