Fourth car unlikely for Hyundai in 2025

The door appeared open to a fourth car in 2025, but Cyril Abiteboul's energy is going into his full-time drivers

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Hyundai Motorsport is unlikely to run extra cars during the 2025 World Rally Championship season, with president and team principal Cyril Abiteboul keen to “really focus” on the full-time drivers.

In a change of strategy this season, Hyundai is running Adrien Fourmaux for all 14 rounds alongside its two world champions Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak.

Hyundai has always traditionally rotated drivers across its third entry, with three drivers – Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo – sharing that responsibility in 2024.

When Fourmaux was announced back in December, Hyundai’s press release stated that the team “continues to assess further possibilities with its current crews for 2025”, raising the possibility for a fourth car to appear on some events.

But asked whether there will be any part-time cars this year at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, Abiteboul was clear.

“It will be mainly those three, frankly,” he told DirtFish.

“We will see if there is a necessity and the opportunity, it may be that there is a fourth one, but right now I want to really focus on those three cars.”

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Abiteboul has dismissed the possibility of Hyundai running any extra cars this season

Mikkelsen and Sordo’s 2025 plans are not yet clear, but Lappi is contesting this weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally in a Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo as part of a Finnish championship campaign.

Neuville/Tänak impressed by Fourmaux

Hyundai’s new recruit Fourmaux certainly made an impression on his WRC debut in an i20, finishing as the highest Hyundai driver in third place and taking successful gambles with tire choice.

Neuville and Tänak were impressed by the job their new team-mate did.

“Definitely he did a good job,” Neuville told DirtFish. “Once he was in the game for a good result, he pushed hard and did the job, so I’m really happy to see them on their first Monte podium.

“And yeah, it’s good for the team because, I mean, obviously for me and Ott it wasn’t such a successful weekend, so it’s good to have them on the podium.”

Neuville finished down in sixth, one place behind Tänak.

“Yeah, I must say he did very well,” Tänak added on Fourmaux. “Obviously, he was also the only one who had a good preparation with small rallies and tests. But anyway, he always went his own way with the tire choices and in the end, it always worked for him.

“So I would say, yeah, his gravel crew and himself as a team, they did a very good job. And yeah, in the end, I would say quite impressive for the first rally [with the team].”

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