• The i20 N Rally2 Step2 made its public debut at Rallye du Var, appearing as the #0 car on the stages for the French Tarmac Rally Championship finale
• The car was driven by 2024 Portuguese Rally Championship winner Kris Meeke, who offered a positive assessment of the wide range of newly developed parts in the Step2 package
• The upgrades, which include changes to the front and rear suspension, new engine management software and new gearbox ratios, will be homologated in January 2025.

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing gave a first public appearance to the i20 N Rally2 Step2 at Rallye du Var, running the machine as the #0 car on the final round of the French Tarmac Rally Championship.

Driving duties for the weekend were taken by Kris Meeke. As well as being the current Portuguese Rally champion at the wheel of an i20 N Rally2 supported by Hyundai Portugal, Meeke brought a wealth of experience from elsewhere in the category. The Rallye du Var weekend offered the Northern Irish driver the opportunity to sample the latest updates to the car – the product of months of testing by the Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing department on roads around Europe.

After his first experience of the Step2 package in Shakedown for the St. Tropez-based event, Meeke was quick to offer positive feedback. His opinion reaffirmed the car as an improvement in both performance and handling over the current version of the i20 N Rally2.

Despite the weekend being his first running on the Rallye du Var stages, with far more experienced crews competing in the event, his stage times regularly matched – and in some cases, out-paced – the best of the French crews, further highlighting the potential of the package.   

The new parts on the car include improved front and rear suspensions kinematics, an electronic turbo wastegate, updated engine management software and gearbox ratios and new options for differential settings. Taken together, they represent the single largest upgrade package for the i20 N Rally2 since the launch of the car in 2021.

The upgrades on the car make use of the Jokers available to the Customer Racing department for the start of the 2025 season and were finalised after a methodical process to identify key areas where improvements could be made, before exhaustive testing confirmed each new part. During the development process, a wide range of drivers have tested the car – including WRC regulars Andreas Mikkelsen and Dani Sordo, and current, successful i20 N Rally2 customers Hayden Paddon, Rok Turk and Eric Camilli.

Following Meeke’s positive review of the car, the work of the Customer Racing department continues with further running with the i20 N Rally2 Step2 planned before the end of 2024. Homologation for the upgraded parts is anticipated in January 2025, with the first new cars fitted with the upgrades delivered soon after. The new developments will also be offered as a kit for existing customers to allow them to update their car to the Step2 specification.

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoit Nogier said: “The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 Step2 is the single largest upgrade we have delivered for the car since it debuted in 2021. Naturally, with such a large package of new developments there is some pressure to get it right. Hearing Kris Meeke’s positive feedback after running with the Step2 package in Rallye du Var shows we have done that. He confirmed that the car is a step forward in every major area we have targeted with the Jokers available to us and showed this on the stages with his times compared to the regulars of the French Tarmac Rally Championship. We still some tests planned to continue making small adjustments before the parts are homologated in January to make sure they are ready for our customers for the start of their 2025 seasons.”