Hyundai didn’t become one of the biggest car companies in the world by doing things by half. So it comes as no surprise that the same philosophy is being used over at Hyundai Motorsport Customer Project division.
The customer rally project will see Hyundai Motorsport put all of their expertise learnt from competing in the past two years at WRC level in to the new R5 rally car which is based on the New Generation Hyundai i20 road car.
According to the press release issued by the Korean auto giant the aim of the Hyundai i20 R5 rally car is to give Hyundai customers a competitive vehicle to contest WRC2 and national and regional rally Championships around the world.
The Hyundai 20 R5 is powered by 1.6 direct injection turbo engine with 32mm restrictor and a five-speed sequential gearbox and differential units.
The R5 rally car has just had its first run and was carried out by the team’s test and development driver Kevin Abbring in the Fontjoncouse test base in southern France last week.
The new division that was set-up in September 2015 will be lead by Italian Andrea Adamo, who was appointed in December, Adamo will be supported by team of 25 who will now enter an intensive period of testing and development to prepare a reliable car for use by semi-professional and amateur drivers in competitions worldwide.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Project Manager Andrea Adamo said: “We are thrilled to have begun testing of Hyundai Motorsport’s new R5 rally car, which is the product of several months’ work by our team in Alzenau. Kevin carried out the initial test in Fontjoncouse last week and we have really hit the ground running. The first tests with the New Generation i20 R5 will be focused on reliability so we can resolve any teething problems as we develop a car that customers can enjoy driving without any compromise to performance. We are on target to deliver the first R5s around the end of summer. We are entering an important phase now, ramping up our testing programme and recruiting more staff to join our experienced team. The R5 is made for customers and although Hyundai Motorsport will not participate directly as a works team in any championship, we are focused on providing our clients with the best service and support. It’s an exciting period and we hope to see the car competing as early as the end of this year in regional and national Championships in the main European markets - and to see it more widely in 2017. We’re excited by this next phase of our programme.”
Australian buyers are able to buy direct from the team in Europe and race the Hyundai i20 R5 rally car in Australia.
