Robert Barrable will be the first to bring a Hyundai i20 R5 to Ireland, giving the car its debut on Irish tarmac in March at the West Cork rally.

Barrable – who works in a family run Hyundai dealership in Dublin, will be the first privateer in the UK or Ireland to compete in the car. “I’ve driven the i20 R5 once and was very impressed with it” he said. “I’m hoping to have a small, private, pre-event test after the car arrives in Ireland, just to become a little bit more familiar with it and set it up for the Irish lanes.”

Barrable has already secured a podium finish in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship this season and will no doubt be impressive in his new i20 R5. We’ll aim for finishes and points and I’d like to be able to challenge for rally wins in the middle to end of the year.

The Barrable family have plenty of success in previous years in Cork, with Rob claming victory in 2011 in his Fabia S2000 and his father Michael has been a previous winner at the West Cork event. We are sure it won’t be long until we see Rob on the top step in the new i20.