Hyundai has made up its mind to return to World Rally Championship (WRC). The Korean company which withdraw from the motorsport last decade is preparing itself for its comeback to the prestigious WRC with its new rally car based on its globally acclaimed i20 hatchback. Hyundai unveiled its rally car today and is making constant efforts for coming up with an efficient in-house rally team in Europe for WRC and to come up with a new performance rally car. Hyundai however have not disclosed any timeline for its comeback to sports.
The rally concept of the i20 draws some similarity with the Elantra GT and is a three-door car with aggressive looks. The rally model of the Hyundai i20 will be turbocharged and produces 300 BHP of power mated to a fully sequential gearbox driving power to all four-wheels. As per the new engine regulations, all the cars will be powered by a 1.6-litre engine. The car has undergone various engineering transformations to withstand the adverse terrains and climatic challenges for competing into the WRC, which is one of the toughest motorsports competition of the world. The team is still undergoing development work and it could take some more time.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=XayeWgj8QTA 540 375]
Hyundai will face the fierce competition from some major global manufacturers. Mini is gearing up to compete with its new Countryman rally car and Volkswagen will follow the footprints with its rally version of its successful Polo. Fiat will also turn up with its Abarth 500 to give a cut throat competition and if that’s not enough, Toyota will enter its car based on the Yaris platform. But the fans will miss top competitor Citroen in the race, as it may pull out due to financial constraints. Will the Hyundai i20 WRC model handle like rally car should?
