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Why Neuville believes he can ignite WRC title defence
World rally champion Thierry Neuville says the second half the season will be vital for his title defence, but remains confident his championship bid could soon be back on track.
As title defences go, Neuville’s this season has been a slow burn, headlined by third places finishes in Sweden and Kenya. As a result, the Hyundai driver heads into the second half of the campaign, which begins in Estonia this weekend, sitting fifth (96 points) in the standings, 54 points behind championship leader Toyota’s Elfyn Evans. Contrast that to twelve months ago, Neuville was flying high at the top of the championship standings having scored 136 points from seven rounds - a start that would ultimately lead to a maiden world title.
The speed has been there this year evidenced by leading the last two rounds in Sardinia and Greece, before an accident and punctures respectively derailed potential victory bids. It is also fair to say that Neuville has been among a handful of drivers that have struggled to extract the best from championship’s new control Hankook tyre.
However, Neuville believes there is still time to turn his season around.
"The first part of the season has been generally challenging, things have not come together for us and we are struggling with the new tyres to get the feeling, and we have had a series of punctures, which hasn’t helped,” Neuville told DAZN News.
“But the upcoming events are going to be crucial for us. We need to have a good few events before the summer break to give us the best chance to be in the fight for the championship at the end of the year.
“Every new event is a chance for a good result. If things come together like they did last year there is no reason why we shouldn’t get a good result. We were cleaning the road at the top of the road order last year and we were able to get many podiums and good results on Sundays. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be capable this year.
“You always need to look at all the sides when things go wrong and for sure things haven’t aligned as they should, but we can be sure that there will be some good events to come for us.”
Neuville’s hopes of igniting his title defence have been boosted by progress made in testing in the lead up to the first fast gravel rally of the season in Estonia this week. Hyundai has focussed the majority of its car development work this year on improving its pace on fast smooth gravel roads.
“Generally it has been a good test and some good work has been done, so I felt straight away very comfortable when I got my test day,” added Neuville.
“I think we are pretty much pleased with the handling of the car but you never know about the real performance until you are against your opponents. It felt good and I felt comfortable in the car and that is the most important.
“It [Estonia] is a fast event definitely, but it is a rally I like honestly. It is a rally I always enjoy, it is not the rally where I feel the most comfortable, but generally I think we can have a good event over there.”
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