WRC
Hyundai reveals updated 2026 WRC challenger
Hyundai has spent 16 days testing since the end of the last season to improve its i20 N ahead of the 2026 World Rally Championship
Tom Howard
Edited: Jan 15, 2026, 10:18 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai has revealed its new-look i20 N Rally1 that it hopes will close the gap to rivals Toyota in the 2026 World Rally Championship.
The Korean brand will sport a new livery on its car for the 2026 season that will be driven by 2024 champion Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux, while the third car will be shared across Dani Sordo, Esapekka Lappi and Hayden Paddon, who rejoins the team after an eight-year hiatus.
The new livery represents a change with the design paying tribute to Hyundai’s racing heritage around the world. The iconic Performance Blue and Active Red return alongside design features honouring Nurburgring, the home of Hyundai N, and Namyang, the location of Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D Centre and Design Centre. A series of special liveries will also feature at selected WRC events during the season.
Hyundai endured a dismal 2025 campaign that yielded two victories, while Toyota romped to a manufacturers’ and drivers’ title double winning 12 of the 14 rallies. Hyundai showed flashes of speed with its heavily upgraded i20 N Rally1 car but struggled for consistent pace and reliability. The car made strides forward on fast gravel rallies, but struggled when conditions became slippery, particularly on asphalt.
In the off-season Hyundai has been working to address the weaknesses with its WRC challenger that has resulted in a number of items its drivers have been evaluating during 16 days of testing since last year’s final round in Saudi Arabia.
Ahead of next week’s Monte Carlo season opener, Hyundai headed to the south of France last week, where it faced wintry conditions to prepare for the famous asphalt stages. The team were forced to abandon Neuville’s test day last Thursday, which was rescheduled for Sunday. Fourmaux drove on Friday with Paddon logging his first miles in the i20 N Rally1 car during Saturday’s media day before jumping back behind the wheel this week at Hyundai’s new test base in France.
“We return this season with more determination and fight than ever before. Last year was a challenge, but we learnt a lot about our weaknesses and what we need to work on to up our game even more in 2026,” said Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul.
“Once again, our target is to finish the year with all three championship titles – something we know we are in a better position to achieve thanks to the maturity of the Evo car. The very focused improvements we have brought to it after a relentless and meticulous testing program, and the enhancement to our leadership team, with dedicated experienced staff are a statement of the intent of Hyundai in motorsport.
Read Also:
“From a tactical perspective, we are returning to the setup that was successful in 2024, through a rotational third car paired with the solid performances we know we will see from Thierry and Adrien.
“With the return of Hayden, Dani and Esapekka, we are not only welcoming back skillsets and experience, but also a reinvigorated, positive team mindset that we have seen can be crucial in success through the hard times that any WRC season will throw at you! The competition will be tough from Toyota once again, but I truly believe we have what it takes to reach our targets.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article M-Sport reveals 2026 WRC Ford Puma
Next article Martins Sesks set for 2026 WRC return
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tom Howard
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
WRC
WRC 21 h
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
WRC
WRC 2 d
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
More from
Dani Sordo
Dani Sordo explains co-driver change for WRC season finale
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
1 mo
Dani Sordo explains co-driver change for WRC season finale
Dani Sordo questions “stupid” WRC tyre rules amid compound mix up
WRC
WRC
Rally Portugal
6 mo
Dani Sordo questions “stupid” WRC tyre rules amid compound mix up
Hyundai brings WRC engine upgrade to Rally Portugal
WRC
WRC
Rally Portugal
6 mo
Hyundai brings WRC engine upgrade to Rally Portugal
More from
Hyundai Motorsport
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
WRC
WRC 20 d
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
WRC
WRC 30 d
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
Latest news
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
29 min
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 17 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe