Neuville finished Saturday in fourth place, securing ten points. After Sébastien Ogier’s retirement, the only challenger left for Neuville in the title race is his teammate Ott Tänak. The Estonian driver ended Saturday in third, gaining just three points on Neuville.
Neuville entered the Rally Chile with a 34-point lead in the championship standings, so the situation is looking positive for the Belgian.
“Today we had a clear target with P4 which was achievable very quickly. In the morning we catch back those positions. This afternoon was about protecting that position,” Neuville said.
“We knew with the fog there was an opportunity maybe to catch some additional seconds. We had a good drive through but at the end not enough.”
The fog thickened further after Neuville’s run, but Tänak, who was third, finished 14.1 seconds ahead of the Belgian. This result left Neuville slightly frustrated.
“I knew I can’t do any mistake because this would be definitely a better position for us. Somehow I trusted the pace notes and I felt comfortable with that. I more or less always knew where I was in the stage. So no real surprises and a good rhythm,” Neuville explained.
“We catched 18 seconds to Ott. The fog was moving also very quickly, so nobody has the same conditions. I think we did very well. It gave us an opportunity for P3, but the gap was just a little bit too big.”
Neuville has shown his strength on “Super Sundays” this year. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Belgian matches Tänak’s points on the final day. Neuville’s starting position on Sunday will be slightly better.
“We do have a slightly better starting position, so we’ll see what the conditions are in the morning. There will certainly be less road cleaning than the previous two days,” Neuville summed up.
“If we can score the same number of points tomorrow as we did today, I’d be very satisfied.”
On Sunday, four stages will be contested in Chile, covering about 55 kilometres.
