Ott Tänak will run a Monte Carlo-specification Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in Central European Rally next week, feeling it will be better suited to the low-grip asphalt conditions.
Hyundai previously announced that Tänak would be delisted from scoring manufacturer points, giving him far more options over component choices than his rivals.
The 2019 world champion will use an i20 with the same base specification as used in the season-opening Monte-Carlo Rally – effectively a 2024 car minus hybrid and with a smaller restrictor – and will also run with a fresh engine.
Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux meanwhile will both run the most up-to-date 2025-spec machine, which features new damper struts for the upcoming pair of asphalt rallies in Central Europe and Japan.
Hyundai squad is prioritizing Ott Tänak's push for the drivers' title
Tänak the priority
At the finish of Rally Chile, Neuville told DirtFish that Hyundai’s Tarmac test would be focused on development work rather than fine-tuning setups. Hyundai has now indicated that both Neuville and Fourmaux will be “focusing on evolving the technical package of the car for the rest of this season and beyond,” per a team statement.
Tänak, meanwhile, having been able to back-to-back test the ‘2024’ car and 2025 car, has chosen the former. Fourmaux had previously expressed a desire to run the older-specification i20 but, like Neuville, will be putting the new car through its paces.
DirtFish asked Hyundai technical director François-Xavier Demaison if Tänak was the clear priority for Hyundai at CER.
“At the start of Central Europe? Yes, he’s a big priority,” Demaison told DirtFish. “He is still in the fight for the drivers’ championship.
Central European roads can be notoriously tricky, making tire choice crucial
“Thierry still is [too], we never know what can happen in Central Europe. But for Central Europe, Ott is our best chance to still be in the fight for the drivers’ championship, so we will do everything to give him the most points for this rally.”
Tänak’s primary motivation with choosing the older car was stability of platform; knowing the ‘2024’-spec car worked well on low-grip asphalt meant he could spend more time focused on tire choice and less on getting the i20 in the right setup window.
“For Ott, when he compared [the two cars],” said Demaison, “after he used the Monte Carlo ’25 spec, as a reference, he said there is some work to do on the ’25 car – the [Rally Islas] Canarias car – to make a good car on the slippery conditions, something like we can get in Central Europe.
“He prefers to use the Monte Carlo ’25 reference to be able then to just concentrate on the tires and know where he is. Because that was his main [concern]: in Central Europe, the tire choice and the tire combination is very important. It’s difficult and takes a lot of time to adjust the setup, and then you can’t do the tire work.”
