In recent years various national rally organizers have become accustomed to receiving entries from Hyundai Motorsport with its current machinery.
It’s been a method used by Hyundai to help develop both its cars and drivers, whilst also providing an added benefit of ensuring its team remains match fit. It’s a different approach to the one taken by its rivals, but it’s a method that has worked and provided success.
From the outside then it would make sense for Hyundai to continue its participation in these regional events. It could complete additional mileage, allowing the team to get a better understanding of the car, whilst also allowing the drivers to learn how to extract the maximum out of the new machines.
But while that might seem an obvious option to those outside the team, it’s not necessarily the viewpoint from within after its difficult start to the World Rally Championship season.
“I do not discard this possibility,” Hyundai’s deputy team director Julien Moncet explained to DirtFish.
“But currently I think we have to make the base of the car working fine, to work on the basics first, make sure everything is optimized, that we have all the spare parts that we need and so on before we start to go here and there.”
Naturally – and sensibly – the WRC has to take priority. Hyundai must focus on what’s important and Moncet believes that competing on events such as the South Estonian Rally or Rally Sanremo could pose a distraction.
“We have to focus really on our core job at the moment and not try to go in every direction,” he said.
“I do not discard this possibility but I do not see it any time soon.”
Neither of Hyundai’s rivals, M-Sport and Toyota, have indicated any plans for their active drivers to compete on national events with Rally1 cars, but Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala would like to do so himself towards the end of the season.
