Toyota technical director Tom Fowler says there’s nothing concerning him about the initial specification of Hyundai’s 2025 i20 N Rally1.
As part of the homologation process, the teams are granted access to the documents submitted to the FIA by their rivals. All three manufacturers are working towards evolutions for their fourth season with the Rally1 cars, with upgrades and improvements coming in time for January’s Monte Carlo Rally.
Going into the final two rounds of this season, Hyundai leads both championships in what’s been its strongest campaign of a hybrid era otherwise dominated by Kalle Rovanperä and the GR Yaris Rally1. DirtFish understands Hyundai is focusing its attentions on the i20’s transmission and suspension – with its angled uprights expected to be ditched in favor of a more traditional vertical format.
DirtFish understands Hyundai is focusing its attentions on the i20’s transmission and suspension
Asked for his view, Fowler said: “I was quite pleased when I saw their paperwork. When I double-clicked the PDF to open their provisional homologation, I was expecting a lot… I was expecting to be pissed off. Let’s see.
“What we’ve got at the moment is a bit of a slinky effect: Hyundai was very late in developing their [Rally1] car and we were much earlier. Hyundai’s made a lot of big steps and [has] come at least equal with us now, which means that every small thing each one does puts them ahead or behind in a certain condition – we’re seeing this in the events now; sometimes it’s i20, sometimes it’s Yaris. The problem with that situation is it always brings more pressure to the drivers.
“So, what we’re trying to do is make sure any development we do is in the weak areas so we can give the drivers more control in those situations during rallies. There’s no point keeping working on things that we know we’re good at already because that isn’t going to bring them anything in terms of comparative performance.”
Talking more specifically about his own car, Fowler said there would be significant changes coming for 2025.
He added: “We’ve got quite a lot of things which we are developing for next year. We’re quite confident we can make a step forward already in Monte Carlo on engine, on power unit and on transmission as well. There’s still a few things to validate, but the main packages on the way.”
Fowler praised reigning world champion Rovanperä for his work in the process of preparing the 2025 car.
“Naturally we’re keen to test some of the development parts,” said Fowler, “but it’s difficult with testing being so restricted. Kalle has been a big help for us in this regard. The other drivers, certainly in the recent tests, have been understandably, extremely focused on getting the set-up for the next rally.
“To muddy the water with development items for them is a bit more difficult which is why with the position Kalle’s in this year has helped. He has the capacity to have a bit of time out of his test to do things for the future and for sure that helps us in putting together a car for all the drivers for next year.”
