Hyundai cabinets its 2025 WRC automotive upgrades for Safari Rally Kenya

Hyundai insists it has made the “more sensible choice” to contest subsequent week’s Safari Rally Kenya with out its a lot anticipated 2025 automotive replace package deal that debuted in Sweden final month.

The South Korean producer will head to Africa for the hardest occasion on the WRC calendar with a trio of i20 N Rally1 vehicles competing within the specification that ended the 2024 marketing campaign (minus the hybrid unit and with the air restrictor modifications as per the 2025 technical laws).

Hyundai spent a lot of final 12 months engaged on a major improve package deal for 2025, utilising 4 homologation jokers to enhance its i20 N for drivers Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and new signing Adrien Fourmaux. The enhancements centred round a revised suspension structure and weight discount.

This package deal made its debut on Sweden’s snow phases final month with workforce principal Cyril Abiteboul moderately pleased with the efficiency regardless of the upgrades being primarily designed for gravel and asphalt rallies.

Nonetheless, a mix of things has prompted the workforce to place these updates on ice for the go to to Kenya subsequent week, earlier than returning to its full 2025 package deal. Abiteboul is, nevertheless, assured that the choice received’t have an effect on the workforce’s efficiency.

“[The car we will use] would be the end-of-2024 specification, so it’s not the spec that ran in Kenya final 12 months as a result of clearly we had a lot of points after Kenya notably round transmission [that were addressed], in order that automotive will not be what’s going to run in Kenya this 12 months,” Abiteboul advised Motorsport.com.

“It’s a resolution we now have made to optimise the provision of components as we had a really busy winter as we acquired the 2025 specification very late and that made it very marginal to make it with the freight [to Kenya]. It was a little bit of an optimisation of the general operation that led to this resolution.

“We don’t assume that when it comes to efficiency there will likely be any deficit or make a giant distinction. It’s all about reliability and sign-off and mileage [on the parts] and general the selection to run the automotive because it was on the finish of 2024 was higher than operating the 2025 automotive.

“There was nothing flawed with [the updates in Sweden] however frankly we didn’t actually design these modifications for Sweden for snow, we designed these modifications for the situations we face this 12 months, which is especially gravel and a little bit of Tarmac.

“However should you take a look at Thierry and Adrien, by the top of the weekend it is rather clear that the efficiency of the automotive was there or thereabouts.”

Whereas Hyundai’s WRC challenger will likely be with out its 2025 updates, it would characteristic a brand new improve particular for the rigours of Kenya’s notoriously powerful gravel roads.

The workforce has developed a revised snorkel. Snorkels are units that protrude from the bonnet of the automotive designed to guard the engine from ingesting water or mud, which can have an effect on combustion and may even severely harm the engine. It’s notably efficient on the Safari Rally, which options thick fesh-fesh sand and deep water splashes.

“We could have a greater instance of the one we used final 12 months – [last year’s snorkel] was perhaps a bit fundamental, so this additionally exhibits a number of the homework that we now have accomplished,” added Abiteboul.

Homework addressed in difficult pre-event take a look at

Sole Hyundai Kenyan podium got here in 2021

Picture by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Kenya has confirmed to be a very difficult rally for Hyundai, because it has solely recorded one podium end from its 4 makes an attempt, when Tanak completed third in 2021. Chief rival Toyota has received each version since its return to the calendar in 2021, scoring a dominant 1-2-3-4 in each 2022 and 2023.

Reliability points have largely been Hyundai’s downfall however the workforce has centered on addressing these considerations after every go to to Kenya. The issue fixing has continued within the lead as much as subsequent week’s third spherical of the championship following a difficult pre-event take a look at, held in troublesome situations, that highlighted {an electrical} frailty.

“Hopefully we now have made a step however what I do know for positive is that each problem we confronted final 12 months in Kenya has been addressed – however every time we go to Kenya we appear to unearth new points,” stated Abiteboul.

“We truly had fairly an eventful pre-event take a look at for Kenya the place we noticed one thing that was not precisely on the stage we would like, notably whether it is raining loads.

“The pre-event take a look at was difficult for the workforce and I’ve to provide credit score to the workforce for doing a really sturdy job to provide most preparation to the drivers.

“But it surely exhibits that it’s not a straightforward problem. I favor to search out these reliability points within the take a look at relatively than through the rally. We have been speaking about doing our homework, however that field is ticked.”

Safari Rally Kenya begins subsequent Thursday with the primary of 21 phases.