Earlier in the day, the Hyundai driver had been visibly frustrated. He criticised Central Finland’s gravel roads for being far too fast and even went as far as saying, “there’s no proper (rally) driving anymore.”
But by the evening, Neuville’s tune had changed entirely. The man who arrived for media duties was far more upbeat and composed.
While the driving itself may have felt better during the afternoon loop, his improved mood likely also had something to do with his rise up the leaderboard — Neuville moved into second place and now heads into Saturday just 4.9 seconds behind local hero Kalle Rovanperä of Toyota.
“I enjoyed the afternoon quite a lot. Tricky conditions, so the driving was a bit more important than just going flat out — and that’s what I enjoyed more,” Neuville said.
“Also, the car was working quite okay in those conditions, so all in all, it was a pretty good afternoon for us. The car is still very fast, obviously, but we’re not far off,” he added.
Rain also played a role in Friday’s action — and it seemed to suit Neuville just fine.
“Looks like we’ll have to see tomorrow. I think we could have some rain in the stages, so in that case — yeah, we don’t know. But overall, at the moment, I’m pretty happy with the day,” Neuville concluded.
Saturday at Rally Finland will feature a mix of well-known classics and new stages. Neuville’s approach is clear.
“We’ll keep the pressure on. I think there are two stages we know quite well tomorrow, so we could be quite comfortable there. But the new stages — I don’t know. We’ll have to see,” he said.
Neuville’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux also enjoyed a strong Friday. The Frenchman currently sits third overall, 7.7 seconds behind Rovanperä. Fourmaux successfully kept Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta at bay, which earned him a better road position for Saturday.
“I can be pleased with the performance of the car — but also with myself,” Fourmaux said.
“We’ll see tomorrow what we can do. It was good to keep that car behind, so actually it’s quite positive for the team,” he summed up.
