Hyundai Motorsport has put a prototype of its 2022 Rally1 car through its paces for the first time on gravel stages in the South of France. Following preparation of the car at the team’s base in Alzenau, Germany, Hyundai says the objective of the test was to understand the car’s baseline behavior and its strengths and weaknesses, and use these findings to dictate the course of future tests.
Following the car’s debut outing, the team intends to ramp up the development of the i20 N-based car with an intense testing plan at different venues across Europe to evaluate the new challenger in varied conditions and terrains that reflect the variety of environments encountered on the World Rally Championship.
Hyundai Motorsport team principal Andrea Adamo commented on the debut test, “It’s a special moment when you take a car to the road for the first time and as always there are some challenges to face. In the case of the 2022 Rally1 challenger, we are starting from scratch with brand-new rules, a different concept and a new base model, the Hyundai i20 N.
“It was thrilling to kick off the testing and to start this exciting new adventure. During last week’s session we saw interesting things, some that need to be changed and improved, but it is all part of the process and of the job. The team at Hyundai Motorsport has done an amazing job and has worked so hard to prepare the car for the first test in such a short amount of time. Of course, we are just at the beginning of a long journey but I do think we have interesting times ahead of us before Rallye Monte Carlo 2022.”
