Hyundai announces WRC team reshuffle following Lorieux’s departure

Hyundai MotorsportWorld Rally Championship program manager Christian Loriaux has left the team ahead of the 2025 season.

Loriaux has played a key role within the Korean marque since first joining the operation as a technical advisor in 2021, before graduating to the role of WRC Program Manager.

The shocking news of Loriaux’s departure comes after the 2024 season where Hyundai claimed its first WRC driver title Thierry Neuville and missed out on winning the third manufacturer’s title by three points from Toyota.

A statement from the team claimed Loriaux would be “launching a new venture”, with his role “fulfilled by the technical department led by François-Xavier Demison”.

With Loriaux leaving the operation, Hyundai has reshuffled its team structure and Pablo Marcos rejoined as team manager after a season at M-Sport Ford. Former team manager Tolga Ozkanci will now take on the newly created role of Head of Race Operations.

“Everyone at Hyundai Motorsport is enjoying a well-deserved break from competition, however – as is often the case at this time of year – we look forward to supporting our 2025 efforts and becoming more environmentally friendly across the company.” Making some significant changes within,” he said. Hyundai team chief Cyril Abiotboull.

“We had a very strong 2024 season, but we did not achieve everything we wanted to, so while looking forward to a transformative year for our motorsport operations we have spent time considering how we can streamline our organisation. Can do.

“We are therefore delighted to welcome Pablo Marcos back to Hyundai as Team Manager. His experience from 2021-2023 is very different to his previous seasons, with Pablo focused solely on realizing our sporting and performance goals within the WRC. Tolga Ozkanci will now oversee the infrastructure of our rally and racing programs as well as working with our affiliated suppliers and partners, some of which will be shared across our programs.

“Finally, we would like to thank Christian Loriaux for his contributions to our mission over the past three years. He personally provided huge support when I joined the world of rallying and we wish him all the best in his endeavours. We look forward to seeing you all in 2025.”