Hyundai Motorsport will field entries in two national rallies to prepare for the FIA World Rally Championship's return to asphalt at the Central European Rally next month.
Preparations for CER will begin in earnest this weekend when Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe contest the East Belgian Rally. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Neuville with the 12-stage, 140km rally featuring stages based in and around the reigning world champion's hometown of St. Vith on Saturday.
The rally will offer crucial milage for the Hyundai team as it aims to unlock pace from its i20 N Rally1 after struggling for performance last time out on asphalt at Rally Islas Canarias in April. All three Hyundais were unable to match the pace of the Toyotas on the Spanish island's smooth asphalt as the upgraded 2025 car made its sealed road debut.
"Honestly we need to see how we are on Tarmac and if we can find performance and the confidence we need," said Neuville when asked about the upcoming Central European Rally.
"We have a preparation event in my hometown, St. Vith, actually and I'm going to try and enjoy that one, and work hard with the team to at least find something, and then we will see in [Central Europe]. We can only cross fingers that Hyundai will on the pace for the next event.
"I think we will be more focused on evolutions than on set up so let's see if we can improve anything on the basics of the car before we start doing the fine tuning. This rally will give us more mileage and feedback about how satisfied we are."
Next weekend, Adrien Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria will jump behind the wheel at the Croatia Rally, which hosts the final round of the 2025 FIA European Rally Championship.
The event will offer conditions that are hoped to be beneficial for Hyundai as it looks to improve its speed on asphalt. Fourmaux has shown pace on Tarmac this year, scoring a third on debut for Hyundai at the WRC season opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, albeit driving the 2024-specification i20 N Rally1.
"We'll be back at Croatia Rally! Good to come back to the place where we claimed our first Power Stage win," posted Fourmaux on social media.
Ott Tänak has also been back in the cockpit this week, testing on asphalt gathering vital data to help Hyundai hit the ground running at CER from 16 - 19 October.
--This news comes from WRC NEWS and is NOT for commercial purposes
