The reigning world champion ended Friday in third place overall as the cars rolled into the evening service. While the Belgian driver wasn’t able to match the fastest times on the forest stages earlier in the day, he did claim a stage win on the day’s final test – the city-based super special.
Oliver Solberg, making a sensational debut in Toyota’s Rally1 car, leads the fast gravel rally, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak in second and his teammate Neuville are still well in contention. After eight stages, Neuville trails the leader by 14.2 seconds.
“This was a good day. This afternoon loop we had very nice stage (Kambja twice). I was really enjoying it.”
Neuville’s day wasn’t without issues, though.
“We still have a few little tweaks to do on the car to get a bit more speed. But overall I think we can be satisfied,” he said.
Pressed for more detail, the Belgian eventually opened up about what’s not quite working in the car.
“We need a bit more consistency in terms of chassis balance. Overall it feels good, but sometimes I end up with a massive understeer in the corner entry.”
“It’s hard to understand if it’s only related to the road conditions or is it also the chassis and the driving style. So I was trying to improve it, but it’s not perfect yet,” Neuville explained.
Rally Estonia continues on Saturday with nine special stages scheduled for the day.
