Two drivers stood out from the rest over the weekend: Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who dominated the top positions. Tänak was generally quicker than Ogier, but a power steering failure dropped the Estonian to second place.
Reigning world champion Neuville was clearly off the pace of his teammate Tänak on the Portuguese gravel and eventually finished fourth. The Belgian star, however, didn’t feel let down.
“Friday was difficult with the cleaning. We made that small mistake, which maybe cost me a position for Saturday. And then what could have been, I don’t know, but my feeling tells me that I wasn’t capable of fighting with Ott today anyhow, so I would have finished fourth anyway,” Neuville said.
The Hyundai drivers competed on gravel for the first time with the updated version of the Rally1 car. The machine proved competitive, even though the team is still chasing its first win of the season.
“I was struggling a bit with the rear of the car, which was a bit loose, but overall the performance was there. Times were good. I think overall we can be satisfied,” Neuville noted.
“I know a few things I will try before Sardinia to get a bit more speed from the car, because driving-wise we were really absolutely on it – and sometimes, even for my liking, taking too many risks. So if we can find that little bit more performance, we’ll be a bit more comfortable in Sardinia and then benefit from the road position,” the Belgian explained.
Neuville plans to take a page out of his teammate Tänak’s book.
“I think the car was fast. I’m on a different setting, especially at the front, than Ott. So I will try his one as well to see how it performs. And maybe that’s the little thing which is missing to go as fast as well,” Neuville pondered.
The next round of the World Rally Championship takes place on the island of Sardinia from 5–8 June.
