Hyundai considering F1 entry?
The recent signing of an agreement to add Korea to the Formula One calendar from 2010 is expected to raise interest in potential entries among the country's car manufacturers.
The contract to run a grand prix at a waterfront location in Jeollanam-do Province was inked between the Chinese and Japanese grands prix and, according to reports in Germany's Automobilwoche online magazine, has spurred Hyundai to express interest in joining the top flight.
The recent signing of an agreement to add Korea to the Formula One calendar from 2010 is expected to raise interest in potential entries among the country's car manufacturers.
The contract to run a grand prix at a waterfront location in Jeollanam-do Province was inked between the Chinese and Japanese grands prix and, according to reports in Germany's Automobilwoche online magazine, has spurred Hyundai to express interest in joining the top flight.
The reports suggest that Hyundai is 'in talks' with Bernie Ecclestone with a view to having a team up and running in time to compete in its home event, but do not make clear whether the manufacturer - previously an integral player in the World Rally Championship - intends to set up and run its own operation a la Toyota, or purchase an existing team, as Renault did with Benetton.
Hyundai's European vice-president, Gerry Dorizas, was playing the company's cards close to his chest, however, insisting that he only knew about 'a new motorsport engagement in the rally field in 2008'. Hyundai withdrew from the WRC in acrimonious circumstances in 2003, and was eventually slapped with a $1m fine for failing to compete in the final four rounds of the season. Recent reports have suggested that the company intends to return to the competition.
