The World Rally Championship futures for Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux remain unclear as the pair await a decision from Hyundai regarding its plans for 2027.
Hyundai is yet to commit to the WRC beyond the end of the season as the Korean brand weighs up its options for next year.
The car maker has ruled out constructing an all new Rally1 car to the new 2027 technical regulations for next year. As a result, the only option to continue in 2027 would be to field its Rally2 car, which will be permitted to compete alongside the WRC27 cars in the top category.
Neuville and Fourmaux have been heavily involved in developing and improving the Rally2 car this year should Hyundai’s board give the greenlight to push forward for 2027.
Hyundai is, however, yet to commit to the Rally2 update kit recently announced by the FIA, which aims to bring the Rally2 cars more in line with the new WRC27 cars, citing that it required more information from the FIA. The kit will comprise new homologated front fenders, a front bumper and a rear aerodynamic device with Rally2 cars also shedding 10kg from their current minimum weight.
“We are expecting more information [from the FIA] to come very soon. But, at the moment, our position hasn’t really changed for us,” Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley told Motorsport.com. “Our focus is primarily on 2026, and the secondary focus is the testing programme for the new Rally2 car that is starting to be firmed up. It is going to be an exceptionally busy Q3 for us.”
When asked if the team is building an entirely new Rally2 car, Wheatley added: “It is not just updates on [the Rally2 car] and it is not everything new and there is a lot of parts that will carry over, but there is also a lot of significant parts, it is going to be effectively a new car.”
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
As Hyundai continued to ponder its WRC 2027 plans, it has left full-time drivers Neuville and Fourmaux facing an uncertain future.
“There is no statement from the brand so far,” Neuville told Motorsport.com after finishing fourth at last week’s Rally Estonia. “There will be plenty of opportunities for me and I’m not done with rallying yet, that is for sure.
“What I will be doing next year, I don’t know. My targets stay the same; to stay with Hyundai and be there. In what format I will be there I don’t know.”
Fourmaux, meanwhile, returned to the WRC podium last weekend at Rally Estonia following an impressive drive to beat his more experienced team-mate to third after an intense duel.
When asked about his own WRC future, the Frenchman, who joined Hyundai in 2024 said: “For now I’m driving until December then after that I don’t know.
“If I need to do one year in Rally2 and then go back in Rally1 the next year after, I’m OK with that. I know Sebastien Ogier did that in the past [2012], so if it is one year it is OK, but if it starts to be two years or three then that’s not good. I think I deserve to stay in a Rally1 car.”
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