With Hyundai Motorsport teasing pictures of its all-new 2022 Rally1 challenger, team principal Andrea Adamo has told DirtFish the car could be testing sooner than expected.
Hyundai’s latest rally car was targeted to be up and running in meaningful testing next month.
Sources say the car featured on Hyundai Motorsport’s social channels is thought to have been through initial shakedown and roll-out running.
Asked about the timeframe for the test, Adamo said: “Maybe we can gain some days. I would love to have it running this month – I would say the chances for this are 50-50.”
Any running would, DirtFish understands, have been done without the hybrid motors and batteries fitted – in the same way Toyota ran its Yaris WRC in pure Internal Combustion Engine mode with ballast to make up the expected 100 kilos for the additional parts.
M-Sport’s 2022 mule has been running the longest, completing mileage in the UK and a week-long test in Spain. Toyota packed in a significant amount of gravel testing in the south of France last month.
Adamo still wouldn’t be drawn on when the team’s 2022 engine would run for the first time, adding: “The other teams they are telling you about the evolutions, me? I don’t talk about technical things. When is the homologation date? July 1, then July 1 it is.”
Portugal, Sardinia and Kenya all come before July 1.
