Neuville dropped out of the lead battle during the morning loop, after running off into the fields twice on the same special stage. The Hyundai star fell from first to fourth place, which ultimately allowed his closest challengers, Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tänak, to claim the biggest provisional points haul on Saturday evening.
This likely means that the championship battle will now be decided at the season-ending Rally Japan.
“I’m very disappointed for what happened today. But we paid the price for a mistake during recce. And it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is,” Neuville admitted after arriving at Saturday evening’s service.
“We didn’t expect to be fighting for the lead here, coming here with our target of finishing the rally. However, in the situation we were in yesterday, in a close battle with all title contenders, but also for the manufacturer points, we had to to drive quite fast. So in that perspective, we did what we could and at the end just a mistake in the pacenotes,” the Belgian added.
Neuville’s chances of sealing the title in Central Europe’s tarmac rally aren’t completely gone, as there are still daily points and additional Power Stage points available on Sunday.
As Neuville mentioned, the manufacturers’ championship is still in play as well. Hyundai holds an advantage, but on Saturday evening, Toyota drivers Ogier and Elfyn Evans gained the upper hand over Neuville and his teammate Tänak in the provisional points.
“I think we have to drive fast for sure. We need to take the maximum points tomorrow. But we need to definitely bring home the car,” Neuville emphasised.
Toyota driver Ogier leads Central European Rally by 5.2 seconds over Tänak going into the final day. Evans is 14 seconds behind the leader. In terms of points, these positions don’t matter for the championship battles, as no points are awarded based on the final standings.
Neuville currently has a 29-point lead over Tänak and a 41-point gap to Ogier in the championship. To seal the title, Neuville would need to maintain more than a 30-point margin over his nearest rival after Central European Rally.
