MOTORSPORT: Hyundai i20 N Rally1 revealed

Hyundai Motorsport has unveiled the car it hopes will nab all the silverware in the 2022 World Rally Championship series and detailed the Hyundai i20 N Rally1's advanced electrified powertrain.

Claimed to have been developed from the ground up, the biggest challenge facing engineers of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 2022 Edition, to give its official name, was incorporating its hybrid system that includes a new 100kW/180Nm electric motor that assists the previous-generation WRC car's turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

Total power for the new Hyundai rally car peaks at around 375kW – but only for short bursts, with regulations demanding the electric boost is used in every stage.

Clawing back energy under braking through regen is a new feature of the electrified rally cars that also keep the previous model's all-wheel drive – although the centre differential has been binned under the new regs.

There's also a less exotic suspension set-up that sees the wheel travel reduced and simpler dampers, hubs and anti-roll bars reintroduced to cut costs.

Weighing around 70kg more than the outgoing WRC cars, some of the excess weight introduced by the 3.9kWh battery, electric motor and control units has been offset by the banning of liquid cooling for the brakes.

Despite looking similar to the previous-gen Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, beneath the skin the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 2022 Edition sits on an all-new steel space-frame chassis.

In 2022, Hyundai has employed both Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak as its full-time drivers, while Dani Sordo and Oliver Solberg will share a third Rally1 car when the season kicks off with the famous Monte Carlo Rally on January 20-23.

Related: MOTORSPORT: WRC enters hybrid era