After five rounds, Hyundai’s win column still reads zero. Toyota, meanwhile, has soared from one victory to the next – most notably celebrating a 1-2-3-4 finish in the asphalt rally in the Canary Islands.
Last weekend, Hyundai again came up short of a win. However, there was a silver lining: Ott Tänak displayed the strongest pace of the rally in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car. If not for a power steering issue, he likely would have claimed victory in Portugal.
The Hyundai challenger proved its competitiveness on the gravel roads of Portugal, where the team’s drivers ran the updated version of the car on gravel for the first time. It’s expected that the team’s trio – Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux – will also be in the fight for top positions at the next round in Sardinia.
Currently fifth in the championship standings, Neuville is confident that Toyota’s dominance can be challenged in Italy.
“Yeah, I think so. I mean, fifth on the road is a good position. There will be some other drivers who are fast again, but we see no reason why we shouldn’t be fast,” Neuville said.
In the drivers’ standings, Toyota holds the top three positions. Elfyn Evans leads with a 30-point gap over Kalle Rovanperä, who in turn is two points ahead of Sebastien Ogier. This means Hyundai drivers will benefit from cleaner road conditions, following in the tracks cleared by the Toyotas.
The championship battle tightened further in Portugal, with Neuville now 40 points adrift of the leader.
“We took back ten points, so that’s good. We got closer to the lead, and we only lost three points to Kalle this weekend. So overall, I can be satisfied,” said Neuville, who finished fourth in Portugal, just behind Rovanperä.
Rally Sardinia takes place from 5–8 June.
