HYUNDAI Motorsport has revealed a new addition to its range of TCR specification packages offered to customer race teams, with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR the latest car to be designed and built by the company’s Customer Racing department.
The Elantra N TCR was unveiled alongside road-going models at last weekend’s Beijing Motor Show, following a busy first three months of testing, during which the car has already completed 5,000km of running.
The new design further expands Hyundai Motorsport’s offering to TCR competitors, joining the hugely successful i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR.
The addition will ensure maximum relevance to customers around the world, with the new car intended for teams in those markets where the standard Elantra model is sold.
Work on the project started from a blank sheet of paper, allowing the Customer Racing department’s designers and engineers to take full advantage of the Elantra’s stable, high performance chassis and sedan body shape to optimise the design.
They were also able to apply the expertise gained from more than two years of customers’ racing with the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR to create the best overall racing package, while also taking the opportunity to improve on the existing cars where possible.
In line with TCR regulations, the Elantra N TCR is front-wheel drive and is powered by a two-litre turbocharged engine derived from a brand new base engine, taken from Hyundai’s family of road going models.
The car will share the same six speed, paddle shift operated gearbox as the other Hyundai TCR designs, while the use of the Elantra model as a base provides an instantly recognisable silhouette on track.
The team of engineers responsible for the car has already visited a number of circuits around Europe to develop sprint and long-distance packages, with drivers including Gabriele Tarquini, instrumental in the process.
Since arriving in the world of circuit racing at the end of the 2017 season, i30 N TCR customers have won back-to-back WTCR drivers’ titles, winning a third of all racing contested in the series to date.
In total Hyundai teams won championships in eight different series in 2019, including the double of drivers’ and teams’ honours in the USA-based IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at the end of the first competitive season for the Veloster N TCR.
“After three months of testing and development work I am very happy to finally be able to reveal the Elantra N TCR to the world,” Hyundai Motorsport team principal Andrea Adamo said.
“The Elantra N TCR will join them in our range of available TCR cars, and I am confident that it will share the same level of success.”
The first chassis’ are expected to be delivered to customers before the end of 2020.
