In January at Monte Carlo, the Belgian won everything possible. Neuville also bagged a substantial number of points in the Rally Sweden in February, despite suffering from his road-sweeping role. Neuville leads the series by a three-point margin ahead of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.
Both Neuville and Evans are vying for their first WRC title. This year presents a great opportunity as Kalle Rovanperä, the winner of the last two championships, is only contesting selected events.
Last year, Neuville experienced tough times in the Safari Rally, with one retirement and the remaining points lost to disqualification. In the past, Hyundai’s cars haven’t shone with reliability in Kenya, but this year the situation needs to be different if Neuville hopes to succeed.
“We really need the car to be reliable in Kenya – it is the main thing we count on when the stages are so unpredictable. The car doesn’t need to be the fastest, but it needs to be able to survive in the conditions we see across the stages,” Neuville says.
“It’s not my favourite event, but it is an adventure to participate in. It can be brutal, but it is always exciting.”
Last season, Neuville showed impressive pace in Kenya at times.
“After four top-three stage times in 2023, including a stage win, we want to take that one step further this year and have a clean rally,” Neuville summarizes.
Like many other drivers, Neuville is closely monitoring the weather forecasts for the event. For the past three seasons, the Safari Rally was held at midsummer, but this time it’s in the middle of the rainy season.
“The main challenge this year will be the weather conditions; the event moving to March makes it a bit of a lottery with the amount of rain we are expecting to see. Depending on when the rain starts, our road position can be an advantage or disadvantage; we could be emptying out puddles or going through them once they have been cleared,” Neuville notes.
The Safari Rally in Kenya kicked off with a shakedown stage on Wednesday. The main event starts with a spectator stage on Thursday afternoon.
