In a move that has taken many by surprise, Hyundai has accepted the challenge from MINI and has opted to do what Porsche has declined. Given the refusal letter from Porsche who have decided not to field its Porsche 911 Carrera S against the MINI as Mini USA head Jim McDowell has proposed, the Korean automaker Hyundai has instead thrown its gauntlet into the ring.
The Korean automaker has proposed the month of July when it would be willing to take on the MINI at the Atlanta raceway. They would pitch in their Genesis Coupe against the MINI is what they have stated in a video they released recently. The reason why Hyundai proposed the race to be held in July instead of June is because of the non availability of their ace driver Rhys Milen who is busy in his preparations to climb a mountain as of now.
Dan Bedore, Hyundai spokesman has stated that they had always declared their willingness to take on any challenger for a performance comparison test. Their past experience at the Atlanta race track would also come in good stead he says for taking on the likes of MINI at the proposed race.
Taking the blow for Porsche, Hyundai is running quite a big risk, for its automatic gear model has some serious flaws. So it would most probably be the manual version of the Genesis that they would be fielding for the race, if it ever happens that is.
It remains to be seen now if MINI would accept the challenge from Hyundai. And if that happens, its would be pretty interesting watching the Genesis Coupe vs MINI race.
Source: topspeed