Amid the backdrop of a mooted World Endurance Championship program by Hyundai, its president of motorsport Cyril Abiteboul has indicated the Korean manufacturer will remain in the World Rally Championship until at least 2026 – with a future beyond that dependent on how many new manufacturers sign up to the next rules cycle that begins in 2027.
Hyundai has been linked to a move into the highest level of sportscar racing, both in the FIA-sanctioned WEC series and the US-centric IMSA SportsCar championship as early as 2026. But Abiteboul, who also serves as team principal for the marque’s WRC team, insisted Hyundai is committed to rallying for the next two seasons.
“There is no shift in our focus [away from rallying],” Abiteboul told DirtFish. “Our focus is to win this championship this year. Our focus is also to have a good winter preparation for next year and the following year. This is where we belong.
Abiteboul wouldn't be specifically drawn on whether Hyundai will enter WEC or not
“Having said that, we are a large group. We have got lots of brands, so we are open to what’s going on. And if we have one thing to announce, the right people will announce it. I can’t confirm anything else other than we are focused on rally for now.”
Abiteboul, along with a contingent of Hyundai colleagues, were present at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, the crown jewel event of WEC. But the Hyundai chief was keen to point out he was a regular visitor to the event “every year for the last 20 years” and he was on a general fact-finding mission, not specifically as a precursor to any potential WEC involvement.
“First, I love Le Mans,” said Abiteboul. “It’s a great racing event and I think when you work in motorsport you also have to look at what’s going on. As an individual, if I want to be doing well here and coming up also with new, fresh ideas, we [need to] have lots of discussion with promoters and with the FIA. You have to know what’s going on in different series and it’s fair to say that endurance is doing very well.
“Endurance has achieved something that I think we dream to achieve also in WRC, which is to attract more manufacturers. A few years ago, there were what, two, three manufacturers competing in the top class in LMP1? And after a good set of regulations, and probably also after some new, fresh ideas from the promoters, they have nine or 10 car makers there. And I think understanding the recipe for success is important.”
Championship leader and long-running Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville was delivering stump speeches earlier this year regarding the need for the WRC to focus fully on crafting 2027 regulations in favor of the now-ditched 2025 ruleset, telling DirtFish that the WRC “needs stability in the regulations until the end of 2026, and use these two and a half years now to build something for 2027 which guarantees you to have new manufacturers”.
Hyundai faces a rally dilemma soon with the i20 N road car soon to be discontinued
Whether that stability delivers the anticipated increase in manufacturer involvement appears critical to whether Hyundai will continue into 2027 and beyond.
“No disrespect to Ford, M-Sport and Toyota – who share the competitive landscape of WRC with us – but it’s clear that we need more brands, we need more cars, we need more drivers, we need more show,” said Abiteboul.
But that isn’t the only obstacle for Hyundai. The i20 N, the road car from which the team’s WRC contender takes its bodywork styling cues and badging, ceased European production in February this year, along with its other combustion-engined performance vehicles. Its flagship road car model is now the Ioniq 5 N, which is available only in EV form.
“We need also to make sure that there is a sustainable alignment between WRC and our product lineup, which is not entirely in the hands of the sport,” Abitebould added.
“And it’s fair to say the car that we use, the i20 N, will be discontinued next year. So clearly, if we’re investing what we are currently investing in WRC, we need a car that will be able to compete with the i20 N; that is the purpose and justification of being in WRC in the first instance. So we need to get all of that sorted.
“It’s a set of technical regulation, it’s an appropriate product strategy, but it’s also the right business objective. And I think that we are not giving enough attention about what it is that we want to achieve with the new regulation from a business perspective. I mean, how the new cars, the new price, the new positioning is going to impact the setup.
“Is it still a manufacturer championship? Is it more a customer championship? Maybe it’s a high-end customer championship, a bit like GT3 racing, which is also doing very well. So it’s also for all these reasons that I was in Le Mans, to understand what could be the alternative, not simply from a promotion or from a technical regulation perspective, but also from a business perspective.”
Hyundai has been a continuous participant at the WRC’s top level since 2014; this is its second stint as a WRC manufacturer after its Motor Sport Developments-run efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The 2024 season is its 18th year with a factory-backed presence in the WRC.
