2012 Paris Motor Show - Hyundai i20 WRC Race Car revealed

Hyundai's involvement in the sport began in 1998, when it competed in the F2 class of the World Rally Championship for two seasons. In 1999 the team announced it would step up to the top class in 2000, rallying a fully-developed WRC car based on the three-door Accent, which competed until 2003. After which the company withdrew from motorsports with the long-term goal of setting up an in-house WRC team in Europe and developing a competitive S2000 rally car - and here it is.

Hyundai has rolled out its all new i20 WRC Race Car at the on-going 2012 Paris Motor Show, officially confirming its comeback to the World Rally Championship.

The new i20, which shares some similarities with the Elantra GT, is a three-door subcompact, and in rally trim looks rather aggressive.

Under the latest WRC regulations, all cars must be derived from 1.6-litre production cars, though in reality few use many of the mainstream parts beyond the base engine architecture and certain body panels. As with all WRC cars, the i20 WRC is turbocharged and develops around 300PS through four driven wheels via a fully-sequential gearbox.

With this version of the Hyundai i20, the Race Car will compete with the Volkswagen Polo-R for now. When exactly will the i20 start competing is not too clear. As the FIA is yet to give it an officially entry. 

But we reckon by the time it happens, the i20 WRC Race Car is likely to be pitted against some serious competition as Mini is set to compete next year with its own Countryman rally car, while Toyota will be entering the WRC with a Yaris-based car and even Fiat could show up with an Abarth 500.

Hyundai Europe marking manager Mark Hall commented: “The World Rally Championship provides the most technically diverse challenge for an automotive manufacturer. By taking part we want to demonstrate Hyundai's engineering excellence and durability, and improve our future models.”