Hyundai has announced that a number of key senior positions in their 2014 WRC team, have been filled.
- 51 year old Belgian, Alain Penasse, is to become Hyundai's team manager. Penasse has previously worked for Toyota, Peugeot and Michelin - along with organizing the Ypres Rally.
- Experienced Rally engineer, Stephane Girard, is to become Hyundai's engine manager. He has previously worked with Subaru ProDrive, Citroen & Peugeot.
- Bertrand Vallat has been appointed Chief Designer. His past projects include the Peugeot 207 S2000 Rally Car.
- The workshop will be lead by Ernst Kopp. Kopp has been involved with Toyota in multiple motorsport disciplines; including F1, Rally and Le Mans.
- Stefan Henrich transferred from Hyundai Motor Europe to become the team's marketing and PR boss.
Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan said: “We’ve been evolving rapidly since the beginning of the year and made great progress in filling all the main roles to establish our core team."
Nandan was responsible for designing the Peugeot 206 and 307 WRCs from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"I’m now surrounded by the best people in the business and I’m confident we’ll be ready to meet our ambitious goal to be ready at the start of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship. While we have a very busy year ahead of us, I believe that team-work together with shared commitment and passion for motorsport are the keys for success."
Hyundai have been preparing for a return to the WRC, since leaving the sport in 2003. There has been speculation that the team is gearing up for an early debut at the Wales Rally GB this season, in November.
Hyundai have been preparing their i20 WRC car, and displayed it at the Geneva Motor Show.
"The first car that was shown at Paris last year was a prototype built in Korea; now we have this generation shown here, which has work to the bodywork, cooling and aerodynamics. We will do some testing with this car but the serious testing won't start until the summer; by that point we will have a further step that will look different again." Said the team principal, Nandan.
There has been no word on who will be piloting Hyundai's cars. However, rumors have surfaced linking Brit Kris Meeke, and former world champion Petter Solberg to the team.
"We're facing a big and exciting challenge, in building a team from scratch and we have now only nine months to prepare for next year."
Image: Autocar
