Hyundai’s Hope for a Gravel Comeback in Portugal
The World Rally Championship (WRC) is set to witness its first pure gravel rally of the season in Portugal this week, and it’s seen as a crucial opportunity for Hyundai to revamp its 2026 campaign. The Korean team has been facing challenges this season, struggling to extract maximum performance from its i20 N Rally1 car, which has a narrow operating window.
This has coincided with a strong showing from rival Toyota, which has dominated the first five rounds of the season. In three of those rallies, Toyota achieved a podium lockout, including a 1-2-3-4 finish on the smooth asphalt at Rally Islas Canarias last month.
A New Era for Hyundai?
Hyundai’s i20 N Rally1 has shown particular weaknesses on low grip surfaces, especially asphalt. That’s why the team is eager to see the start of the gravel season in Portugal. Pre-event testing has generated optimism among Hyundai and its drivers that they can turn their fortunes around on gravel.
Hyundai is also expected to bring its full range of upgrades to the car after debuting some of its development updates at Croatia last month. This is a significant step forward for the team, who are looking to make an impact in the upcoming events.
Adrien Fourmaux, one of Hyundai’s drivers, expressed his confidence in the team’s performance on gravel:
“The season really starts now in Portugal, because it’s a different surface to everything that has come before,” said Fourmaux. “Testing has been good, and we are much more comfortable and confident with the pace on gravel. I like Rally de Portugal, and I’ve always been competitive here. I’ve been unlucky with some punctures or technical issues in the past, but we go to Portugal with the motivation to push and get the best result possible. The fans are some of the best in the world at Rally de Portugal, I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
Team-Mate’s Cautious Optimism
Thierry Neuville, Fourmaux’s team-mate and the 2024 world champion, shares a similar view but remains cautiously optimistic about his and Hyundai’s chances on Portugal’s rough gravel stages.
“It is good to be optimistic as that is what helps us move forward,” said Neuville. “We shouldn’t be too optimistic either. We need to have both feet on the ground and we are facing a very strong competitor that is doing everything right. They are five [cars] we are three [cars]. We might have more speed, but the rally is long. The feeling was good in testing and if we can confirm that on the rally, it will be a positive start.”
Proven Performance in Portugal
Hyundai proved its pace in Portugal last year with its drivers Ott Tanak and Fourmaux demonstrating the speed to challenge for the victory before a power steering issue (Tanak) and a technical problem (Fourmaux) ultimately ended hopes of a win.
This year, Hyundai will head to Portugal with an improved i20 N and with seven-time Portugal podium finisher Dani Sordo effectively replacing Tanak in the line-up. This change is expected to bring fresh energy and experience to the team.
Ambitious Targets for Hyundai
Hyundai’s sporting director Andrew Wheatley believes the team is in a position to have “more ambitious” targets this week. As the first of the European gravel events that will define the second half of 2026, Rally de Portugal is very important to gauge the performance of the team.
“Portugal has been an event with good speed and good results for Hyundai Motorsport in the past,” said Wheatley. “We know that the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 is fast in these conditions and we have been working hard to further improve reliability step-by-step. This event shares a similar profile to Acropolis, Sardinia and Saudi, so this will be a good opportunity to assess performance for the upcoming events.”
“Our targets in Portugal are more ambitious than the last couple of events. While we expect that our competitors have not stood still over the winter, we are bringing most of what we have learned from our testing in 2026 to Rally de Portugal. With a good start order on Thursday and Friday, we are confident that we can be in a position to fight for the podium – but with Oliver Solberg and Sebastien Ogier also in good starting positions, the job will be slightly more complicated. It looks like there could be some rain around the recce, which could reduce the deficit of starting first on the road, but we believe we have three crews with the speed to fight for the podium.”
