Hyundai Motor aims to win World Rally Championship

Hyundai Motor’s i20 rally car races during the fourth race of the 2016 World Rally Championship in Argentina, Sunday. / Courtesy of Hyundai

By Lee Hyo-sik

Hyundai Motor is looking to win the 2016 World Rally Championship (WRC) as its motorsports team has been performing better than expected, according to company officials Tuesday.

The firm’s i20 rally car, driven by professional driver Hayden Paddon, won the fourth race of the championship held in Argentina, Sunday, raising the possibility that Korea’s largest automaker could claim the world’s most popular racing event for the first time.

The team also won the first rally, the Rallye Monte Carlo, in January. On the cumulative basis through the fourth rally, Hyundai ranks second with 81 points after Volkswagen (117 points).

With nine more rallies remaining, Hyundai officials expect that its rally team could win this year’s championship if it continues to perform at its current pace. The last rally will take place in Australia in November.

The WRC, which began 44 years ago, is a rally series of 13 three-day events culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. WRC is one of the world’s two major auto racing events, with the Formula One World Championship, organized by the Federation of International Automobiles (FIA).

The WRC rallies are driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice, not on race circuits. Only mass-produced models are allowed to take part in the rallies.

Besides Hyundai, only three carmakers ― Volkswagen, Ford and Citroen ― are participating in this year’s event. The Korean carmaker, which began participating in 2014, ranked third in 2015, ahead of Ford.

“It is remarkable that Hyundai has become a strong contender for the 2016 WRC only in three years after it took part,” a Hyundai Motor official said. “Volkswagen, Citroen and Ford have all been involved in the WRC for more than 40 years, accumulating extensive knowhow and expertise. If Hyundai outrivals the three competitors, this will make headlines worldwide.”

The official cited the new i20 rally car as this year’s main success factor, saying that the company has significantly improved the vehicle’s performance over the past two years.

“Our researchers learned plenty from the i20 race cars participating in WRC in 2014 and 2015. Based on the data, they were able to improve the vehicle’s driving performance and durability in harsh environments,” he said. “We will soon be able to develop world-class rally cars in the near future.”

Hyundai is using technical knowhow and expertise it has accumulated from the development of the rally cars, to mass produce commercial models under its high-performance vehicle N brand. The company plans to roll out its first N brand model in 2017.