Andrew Wheatley arrives at Hyundai immediately and will have an eye to the team's future in the WRC
Photography by Hyundai
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
Andrew Wheatley will make an immediate return to the World Rally Championship service park after joining Hyundai Motorsport as the Korean firm’s WRC sporting director.
The Briton’s new role has been created to ease pressure on the squad’s senior management as Hyundai Motorsport president Cyril Abiteboul and technical director François-Xavier Demaison take on the added challenge of next year’s World Endurance Championship with Genesis Magma Racing.
Wheatley, who joins the squad in time for this week’s Central European Rally, has been at the forefront of the WRC for close to three decades with M-Sport and, most recently, as the FIA’s road sport director. Predictably, he’s happy to be back among his people.
Wheatley said: “I am delighted to join Hyundai Motorsport as sporting director at this very exciting time. This is a team that has the experience, skill, and a strong driver line-up to win world championships.
Wheatley's arrival will take some pressure off the shouders of Demaison and Abiteboul
“My role is to support our experienced team in every department, helping them navigate the day-to-day challenges they face and sharing my knowledge to help drive our performance. All the raw ingredients are there, and my goal is to work alongside Cyril, F-X, Pablo [Marcos, team manager] and Jan [de Jongh, head of engineering] to make our pathway to success as smooth as possible.”
Wheatley’s arrival in position comes just weeks after Demaison admitted the WEC program was impacting on the team’s WRC effort.
“It’s difficult to say no [it’s not impacting],” said Demaison. “For sure, we have people who moved to the other project [and] we have people who are halfway between both projects, so it for sure takes energy out of the rally [program].”
Interestingly, when talking about Wheatley’s new role, Abiteboul had an eye to the future as a question mark still hangs over Hyundai’s WRC future beyond the end of season.
Abiteboul said: “Andrew’s appointment as WRC sporting director is an important strengthening of Hyundai Motorsport’s leadership. As we diversify our motorsport portfolio, it is essential that we enhance the management focus for each of our activities.
“In addition to his unwavering passion for rally, Andrew brings a wealth of experience that will bolster our WRC operations, supporting the crews and Hyundai Motorsport’s senior management in the day-to-day operations in pursuit of success in WRC, as well as in identifying long-term strategic opportunities in the off-road categories.”
After confirming it will remain in the WRC next season, Hyundai is expected to retain its current three drivers – Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux – with the two world champions understood to be under contract already and the Frenchman reckoned to be on the verge of signing an extension of his current single-season agreement.
Hyundai Motorsport has also shifted its base from the Alzenau facility which opened midway through 2013 to new premises in Offenbach, 18 miles away.
Words:David Evans
Tags: Adrien Fourmaux, Andrew Wheatley, FIA, Hyundai, Hyundai Motorsport, M-Sport Ford, Ott Tanak, Thierry Neuville, World Rally Championship, WRC
Publish Date October 14, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/10/rSRxlSMj-b9163adc-53f7-b2fc-3eda-9f35ef56346d-780x520.jpg October 14, 2025
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