Hyundai Motorsport's newest WRC signing, Andreas Mikkelsen, has been filling time before his first competitive outing by helping the manufacturer develop its i20 R5 rally car.

Early this month, Hyundai announced that the Norwegian had joined its squad for the final three rounds of the season, starting with RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España [5 - 8 October].



But before he got a chance to drive an i20 World Rally Car as an official team member, Mikkelsen spent two days last week at the wheel of a gravel-spec R5 model in France.



The R5 car is eligible for the WRC 2 championship, where it competes against machinery like the Citroën DS 3, Skoda Fabia, Peugeot 208 T16 and Ford Fiesta.

Mikkelsen won this season's WRC 2 rounds in Corsica and Monte Carlo in a Fabia R5 and Hyundai's Customer Racing department was eager to use his experience and feedback to benefit the i20.



"It is important that we continue to work to develop the car," Hyundai's Customer Racing manager Andrea Adamo explained.



"Thanks to his running in WRC 2 earlier this season, Andreas has a great deal of experience in current R5 machinery. With his input we can continue to improve the i20 R5 for new customers, and pass on improvements to our existing clients.”



Mikkelsen's focus shifted to the i20 World Rally Car this week. He drove it at a pre-event test in France yesterday [Monday] and will get two more days behind the wheel in Spain this Thursday and Friday.

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