The future of Hyundai Motorsport may soon no longer be in the world of rallying, but in endurance racing.
According to the news collected by Motorsport.com and which is now starting to circulate in the endurance racing paddock, the Korean manufacturer would be interested in building a prototype. According to information gathered over the last few weeks, the preference would fall towards the LMDh platform.
Currently the Alzenau-based team’s commitments are primarily in the WRC, while with the Customer Racing department it provides support to the teams taking part in the ERC rallies and at national level in various championships, as well as in the TCR touring car races where the BRC Racing Team in particular is continuing to win with the Elantra N.
Interest in the world of prototypes had already arisen in 2021 when a collaboration was launched with Forze Hydrogen Racing, a team of students that designs, builds and races hydrogen electric racing cars to promote fuel cell mobility.
This type of car will become part of the starting grid at the 24h of Le Mans, given that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has been working hard on it for some time, having already attracted the attention of Toyota and Alpine, who have exhibited the their hydrogen vehicles in the paddock of the French race.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport
Right on the Circuit de la Sarthe we noticed the Team Principal of Hyundai Motorsport, Cyril Abiteboul, walking and stopping to talk to various professionals. Naturally in plain clothes and without logos, but not disinterested in the environment, as often happens when working behind the scenes.
Abiteboul has already started discussions with the current Technical Director of Hyundai Motorsport, François-Xavier Demaison (ex-DT of Williams in F1 and current technical director of Hyundai Motorsport in the WRC) to begin to outline a prototype project that could go into track as early as 2026.
As we were saying, the basis chosen would be the LMDh, given that it allows you to design the vehicle on a chassis among the four put in place by the suppliers elected by FIA-ACO-IMSA – and in this case Oreca would have the advantage – and drastically reduce expenses compared to an LMH, as well as broadening horizons with the Customer Racing department, giving customer teams the opportunity to dive into this new challenge with the support of the parent company.
For example, in American TCR racing there is Brian Herta Autosports which has already shown interest in a possible landing in the IMSA GTP Class, but the move would above all help Hyundai Motorsport to start getting to know a totally new world, with the The idea is then to link it to the aforementioned hydrogen project that we will see in the future at Le Mans.
Hyundai Vision GT
Photo by: Gran Turismo
Hyundai: is staying in the WRC in question?
The future of Hyundai Motorsport, therefore, goes towards the asphalt of the tracks, embracing technologies different from those used up to now and towards an important and impressive commitment in the use of human and economic resources such as the WEC, although the choice of the car leans towards the LMDh regulation.
At this point, however, it is more than legitimate to ask a question. With the opening of the new project, will Hyundai abandon the WRC to dedicate itself body and soul to preparing the new adventure in motorsport?
We know for sure that the team directed by Cyril Abiteboul will finish the current season without problems, where, at least at the moment, it occupies first position in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships. There will certainly be next year too, even more so with the recent confirmation of the current regulations until the end of 2026.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport
But 2026 is the year to take into consideration. The WRC is in the middle of the ford that will lead to the new regulations starting from 2027, but it is also a category in extreme difficulty due to the lack of manufacturers – to date only 2 are officially involved, plus Ford as support for an M-Sport more of a cameo than a main actor – and the uncertainty that exists on the new regulations, but also on the current lack of ideas that can relaunch a championship in free fall now since the end of 2019, when Citroen Racing decided to say goodbye to the World Championship with immediate effect.
Is staying in the WRC until 2027 and beyond – even with the possibility of winning – attractive enough for a manufacturer like Hyundai? In the current conditions, the answer “No” would make sense. Just as it would make sense, at that point, to allocate resources to the new project to best face the new adventure. This is why leaving the World Rally Championship could really be more than a hypothesis, but a thought that becomes more concrete every day.
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