Adrien Fourmaux wants Hyundai to be sure its new car is definitely better on Tarmac
Photography by Hyundai
Words by Alasdair Lindsay & Colin Clark
Adrien Fourmaux is the only driver to have scored a podium on asphalt in 2025 driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
In fairness, there have only been two opportunities to do so thus far. The Monte Carlo Rally, which was mostly free of snow and ice, was close to a ‘normal’ asphalt rally. Rally Islas Canarias was the other – where Hyundai was miles off the pace of the Toyotas.
There was one key difference between those two events: in Monte, Hyundai ran its 2024-spec i20 N Rally1. In Canarias, it had shifted back to the 2025-spec car it introduced in Sweden, having used the ’24 car in Kenya.
Now, Fourmaux thinks Hyundai should revert back to its older-spec car for next month’s Central European Rally and Rally Japan.
DirtFish asked Fourmaux what he needed to be competitive on asphalt, and he replied: “Go back with the 24 car. I don’t know, it’s a question…
Really?
“We never know, we need to be sure that the ’25 is faster than the ’24.”
Is Hyundai's older-spec i20 actually quicker than the new one on Tarmac?
Fourmaux hopes Hyundai does a back-to-back test to compare the ’24-spec i20 to the ’25-spec on asphalt.
“I would make sure that we know that it’s faster,” Fourmaux reasoned. “So I think we need to do another back-to-back. If it’s quicker, we should take the quickest car.”
Fourmaux has form in the previous spec car, too.
“To be fair, I heard many things from the ’24 car, like it’s difficult to drive, the rear is snappy etc. I made some changes on the setup at the end of last year, when I drove in Dévoluy [in preparation for Monte Carlo]. After that, I was really comfortable in Monte Carlo,” he said.
“It was my first rally with the car. And [before] the car was winning in Central Europe. When we arrive in Canaries, we are nowhere.
“We need to take in consideration that the ’24 car was a really good car on Tarmac. So we need to take the best of the two.”
Last season Hyundai won both Monte and CER; it also finished on the podium with Neuville in Croatia.
Words:Alasdair Lindsay
Tags: Adrien Fourmaux, Central European Rally, Central European Rally 2025, Hyundai, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date September 23, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/09/b2L2yctG-2025CHILE_VT_122-780x520.jpg September 23, 2025
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