Neuville began the season-ending tarmac rally with a comfortable 25-point lead, putting his first World Championship tantalisingly within reach. However, fate intervened on Friday morning when his Hyundai suffered a power loss due to a technical issue.
With only a short tyre fitting zone available during the day, the Belgian’s Rally1 car couldn’t be repaired. As a result, Neuville was forced to crawl through the stages for the rest of the day, falling over seven and a half minutes behind the rally leader.
Despite the setback, Neuville still has a path to the title, but he can no longer afford to take it easy. Tänak currently leads Rally Japan, meaning the Estonian also has a chance at the championship.
Neuville now has two practical options. The Hyundai star could opt to push to the limit on Saturday in an effort to climb to at least sixth place by the end of the day. A sixth-place finish would give him six provisional points – enough to seal the title. This would eliminate the need for risks on Super Sunday.
Neuville is currently five minutes behind sixth-placed Gregoire Munster, a gap he can’t realistically close without other drivers ahead of him running into trouble. Meanwhile, seventh-placed Nikolay Gryazin is four minutes ahead. A full-on attack could allow Neuville to catch the WRC2 category leader.
The more likely scenario for Neuville is to drive at a steady pace on Saturday, work his way into the top 10, and collect a few provisional points. In this case, Neuville would still need points from Super Sunday to secure the championship.
The situation could also turn in Neuville’s favour if Tänak drops out of the top three on Saturday. In that case, the Estonian would no longer have a path to the title, and Neuville would become the first Belgian World Champion.
Hyundai also faced drama in the manufacturers’ championship on Friday. In addition to Neuville’s issues, Andreas Mikkelsen crashed into a tree and retired.
This opens the door for Toyota to close the gap to Hyundai during Saturday evening’s points allocation. If that happens, the manufacturers’ title battle would likely come down to a fierce fight on the season’s final day, Sunday. Hyundai currently holds a 15-point lead over Toyota in the standings.
Rally Japan continues on Saturday with seven special stages.
