Neuville won the season-opening Rally Monte Carlo and secured a full 30 WRC points. Since then, the Belgian has only managed two third-place finishes, but he has consistently accumulated a solid points haul from rally to rally.
This can be explained by the WRC’s revamped points system. Neuville has scored the most points on what are called Super Sundays this year.
Neuville has amassed 110 points from the early season events, with 43 of those coming from his Sunday performances. According to the current points system, points are awarded on Sunday to the seven fastest drivers of the day (seven points to the fastest) as well as additional points for the top five drivers in the Power Stage (five points to the fastest).
Neuville’s teammate, Ott Tänak, has also earned 43 points from this season’s Sunday battles, which constitutes more than half of Tänak’s total points in the championship, where he currently sits third.
Hyundai has realized the immense importance of Sundays.
“Every point is crucial. Winning the Power Stage allowed us to earn five points and overtake Sébastien Ogier in the Super Sunday standings, thus gaining an additional point, making it six points in a single stage. This shows the importance of performing well on Sundays and securing points,” Neuville summarized at the end of the Rally Portugal.
Toyota’s drivers have collected significantly fewer points from the final days of the rallies. The best performer has been part-time driver Sebastien Ogier, who has scored a total of 24 points from Super Sundays in three competitions, averaging eight points per rally. Neuville and Tänak’s corresponding average is 8.6 points per rally.
Elfyn Evans, who is second in the WRC standings, has accumulated 29 points from five rallies. Evans is currently 24 points behind Neuville in the standings, and 14 points of this gap can be attributed to Sunday performances.
Among Toyota and Hyundai’s full-time drivers, Takamoto Katsuta has performed the worst on Sundays, with an average of 4.8 points per race.
Super Sunday points in the 2024 season:
| POS | Driver | Team | Sunday points | Avg points per rally |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 43 | 8.6 |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 43 | 8.6 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 29 | 5.8 |
| 4. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 24 | 8 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | 24 | 4.8 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | 19 | 3.8 |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 18 | 6 |
Notably, the Super Sunday points are also counted towards the manufacturers’ championship. Due to their excellent Sunday performances, Hyundai is currently leading the championship, while Toyota is trailing.
Super Sunday points for manufacturers in the 2024 Season:
| POS | Team | Sunday points | Avg points per rally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hyundai | 89 | 17.8 |
| 2. | Toyota | 81 | 16.2 |
| 3. | M-Sport Ford | 30 | 6 |
Check out the full WRC standings here.
So far, Neuville is the only driver this season who has managed to score maximum points for the weekend – leading the race on Saturday night (18 points), winning on Sunday (7 points), and setting the fastest time in the Power Stage (5 points).
For example, Sebastien Ogier, who won in Croatia and Portugal , did not take any big risks on the final days while leading the event. This cautious approach ensured he did not make any mistakes that could cost him the significant points from Saturday night.
However, this strategy has cost Toyota many valuable points. Kalle Rovanperä followed the same pattern on the final day of the Safari Rally, where he had a commanding lead in the overall standings. Rovanperä focused more on winning the rally and securing Saturday’s points, but as a result, he only collected two points on Sunday, although he could have easily fought for 12 points for his team.
The next round of the WRC will take place in two weeks in Sardinia.
