Hyundai Motorsport has used the occasion of the Paris Motor Show to present a preview of its 2017 WRC challenger, which will make its competitive debut in next season’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

The team, which is currently second in the WRC manufacturers’ classification on 201 points, has been testing its brand new 2017 prototype since April across numerous locations in Europe and in a variety of different conditions.

The car, based on a three-door Hyundai i20, has been developed to meet WRC’s new 2017 technical regulations, which have given greater aerodynamic freedom to designers. Hyundai Motorsport has an extensive testing programme lined up in the final part of 2016 in order to further evolve the car ahead of its debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January.

WRC regulations for the 2017 season also offer teams more power, an increase to over 280kW, more downforce, Electronic Active central differential and the ability to compete with longer and wider vehicles. The combined objective of these new technical rules is to create an even more dynamic and spectacular show in the popular WRC.

The livery on show in Paris is an interim version, with the final specification and look of the car only to be revealed in December. 

Team Principal Michel Nandan said: “The 2017 WRC regulations have allowed all teams to start from a blank page, which has offered us an exciting engineering challenge. The changes will raise the level of entertainment in WRC on stages around the world with wider and more powerful cars. We have been putting our experience from two full seasons of WRC into practice, as we aim to build on our successful 2016 campaign. The 2017 car started testing in April with initial work centred on engine and powertrain testing. More recently, we have looked at suspension, differential and aero. There will be some small evolutions on both chassis and engine later this year. We look forward to revealing the final version of our 2017 car later this year.” 

Hyundai Motorsport is in action this weekend at the tenth round of the 2016 Championship, Tour de Corse - Rallye de France, where it is fielding three New Generation i20 WRC cars. The team has enjoyed its most competitive WRC season to date with victories in Argentina and Sardinia and an additional four podiums in Monte-Carlo, Sweden, Poland and, most recently, in Germany.