Hyundai has been fined €25,000 for a homologation paperwork issue discovered at the 2024 World Rally Championship finale, Rally Japan.
On Sunday after the conclusion of the rally, the rear differential casing of new world champion Thierry Neuville’s i20 N Rally1 was found to be allegedly not in compliance with the car’s homologation paper.
The FIA technical delegate requested that the same part on team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen’s car be checked too, and it was also found not in compliance with Homologation Form Ra1-22/02.
It was therefore requested that stewards carry out further checks on FIA premises in Valleiry, France where Hyundai brought all rear differentials nominated for car #11 and car #9 for the season.
There, it was found that the CAD data and physical part of the rear differential deposited in 2022 for original homologation were correct – and the parts checked after Rally Japan matched the CAD data and the original homologation.
But the physical part deposited in 2024 for Homologation of 40/09ERJ (Joker 1C
2024) was not correct, and photos on the form were not correct either.
A hearing was held on Tuesday (December 10) at 7am CET between the FIA, Hyundai and the stewards via video conference.
The stewards’ document reports that Hyundai WRC program manager Christian Loriaux “explained that the picture in the homologation form was the one of the prototype case made in 2021. Due to their mistake, they had missed to ask for a correction of the photos enclosed in the homologation form”.
Hyundai Motorsport president Cyril Abiteboul “apologized for their lapse and stated that in Hyundai they need to improve their internal processes in order to avoid this type of mistakes. He also added that the CAD file matches with the parts installed in their cars and this should be taken into consideration to underline that they have acted in good faith”.
But Hyundai was found to be in breach of Art. 10.3.3 of the 2024 FIA International Sporting Code which stipulates: “Automobiles must comply with their respective homologation documents”.
However it avoided exclusion from the event because clerical errors or mistakes in the homologation documents can qualify as ‘exceptional circumstances’.
An additional sum of €25,000 also hangs over Hyundai, suspended unless the team fails to correct its homologation form before January’s Monte Carlo Rally, or makes a similar error at any point during the 2025 WRC season.
