Back in 1998, Hyundai started their rally career by entering the World Rally Championship as a contender in the F2 class. And although along the years of being able to secure top-ten positions with the Accent WRC rally machine, they were still miles away from posing a serious challenge to the big teams like Ford and Peugeot. Coupled up with some budget constraints, Hyundai announced their withdrawal from WRC in September 2003. But they are now back to kick up some dust with their all-new rally machine, the i20.
Making this surprising announcement at the Paris Motor Show, they had also unveiled a rally concept version of the i20 hatchback. This new three-door subcompact i20 houses a 1.6-liter engine, complying with the latest WRC regulation to take part. And like all the other WRC machines, the i20 WRC will be turbocharged and has an output in the region of 300-horsepower, other than having four-wheel drive and a fully-sequential gearbox.
For the time being, Hyundai had yet to come out with an exact timeline for the i20 to make an appearance in the world of rallying, but they will be facing some serious competition by other makes like the MINI with their Countryman and Volkswagen’s Polo. And if the reports are accurate, Toyota will also be posing on a challenge with their Yaris, and Fiat with an Abarth 500. But as a surprising turn of event, there is a huge possibility that top gun Citroen might be pulling out from the scene with the same reason as Hyundai did back in 2003.
