The FIA World Rally Championship drivers have had a quiet spring since the WRC competition in Mexico was cancelled before the final day. It was back in mid-March and then the pandemic hit the world with full force, causing several countries to close their borders which caused the WRC series to cancel Rally Mexico to bring home the fans and the teams.
Since then, Rally Argentina has not been able to run, nor has Rallye de Portugal that should have been hosted this weekend. Neither will the upcoming Rally Italia Sardegna or Safari Rally run; right now the ‘holiday’ looks to be ongoing until early-August when Rally Finland is planned. But if the Finnish round can really be hosted, there is great doubt, in which case it will be more vacation for drivers for another a month or two.
The drivers have kept a low profile and in many countries that have been completely or partially isolated. Physical training has continued but there has been very little action in cars as the WRC introduced a ban on tests for the WRC cars until the end of May.
But one who has driven this week is reigning world champion Ott Tänak, however, it is not a WRC car. Hyundai Motorsport has been in Estonia with a Hyundai i20 R5 and have tested at full speed on the Estonian gravel roads in the i20 R5 that Ole Christian Veiby drove at Rally Mexico.
The development of the R5 rolls on for Hyundai and at the beginning of the year released an updated version. A new car is intended to be released during the year based on the bnew version of the Hyundai i20.
