Hyundai Motorsport’s first customer car, the i20 R5 just marked its debut at the Ypres Rally in Belgium, the fifth round of the 2016 European Rally Championship.
This also marks the first time that the Korean automaker’s racing department has participated in an event outside of the World Rally Championship in which it competes.
The new racer is similar to the i20 WRC run by the factory team, but is built to the FIA’s R5 regulations for production-based rally machinery. That means it packs a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine driving all four wheels and weigh no less than 1,230 kg (2,711 lbs).
To make its mark, Hyundai’s latest will have to keep up with similar R5 versions of the Citroën DS3, Peugeot 208, Ford Fiesta, and Skoda Fabia, to name just a few. It’ll be eligible for a wide range of championships around the world, including the aforementioned European series, as well as the second-tier international WRC-2.
Best of all, though, the new Hyundai i20 R5 will be available for public purchase. That doesn’t mean that it’ll be street-legal, but if you’re putting together your own rally team (or happen to have access to closed rally stages and can spare the cash), the i20 could be just the ticket.
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