Neuville finished fourth at Rally Chile and now leads the drivers’ championship by 29 points over his teammate Ott Tänak. With only two rounds remaining, this is a significant gap under the current points system.
Neuville struggled with road sweeping duties in Chile but remained calm and collected, taking the points that were available.
“We didn’t take big risks because there was no need, it was mostly about managing. On the Power Stage, we tried to push a bit more, but we hit some fog in a couple of corners, which obviously made us lose important seconds and a few points. But in the end, I’m happy with the outcome,” Neuville said after the rally.
The conditions in Chile were challenging throughout the weekend, but Neuville still enjoyed the event. Chile brings a unique element to the WRC calendar, as it differs from many other gravel rallies.
“There are some really nice stages. I think generally, five of Friday’s stages were really nice, but super challenging for us. Also, on Saturday and even today, there were exciting stages, so I enjoyed many of them,” Neuville recapped the rally.
Neuville drove intelligently in Chile, avoiding the frustration that has plagued him in previous years. This time, he focused solely on collecting championship points.
“It worked more or less in my favour. Obviously, some drivers made mistakes early in the race, and from that point, our plan and strategy had to be adapted. We were mainly focusing on ourselves. I think we did what we needed to do,” Neuville stated.
The drivers’ championship is now firmly in Neuville’s hands, but the manufacturers’ championship has reignited. Toyota took the maximum 55 points from Chile, reducing Hyundai’s lead in the manufacturers’ battle to just 17 points. That’s not an insurmountable gap with two rounds remaining.
Neuville sent his own wishes to the team regarding the championship battle. From the Belgian’s words, it seemed that he also had his own personal interest at stake. He specifically hoped that the fight between him and Tänak would be brought to an end.
“Now we need to make sure we can get things done quickly, because there’s still a manufacturers’ championship to fight for,” Neuville declared.
“And we need to be sure that for Japan, we can fight as we should for the manufacturers’ title. It’s important not to have internal fights and to get things done to be ready to beat Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship,” Neuville added.
On a personal level, Neuville’s result in Chile was strong, but the weekend didn’t go as well for the team. Toyota secured a one-two finish, with Kalle Rovanperä celebrating his fourth victory of the season and Elfyn Evans finishing second. Sebastien Ogier also won Super Sunday and the Power Stage.
“We lost 18 points, so basically half of our advantage. And there’s a fight between me and Ott which is ongoing, and nobody will take the biggest risks for sure. But obviously, it shows that we lost some important points to Toyota, and they brought many cars. They will bring many cars in Germany as well. So we need to have a good approach and a solid strategy as a team to make sure we don’t lose the manufacturers’ championship,” Neuville planned.
The WRC season resumes in mid-October with Central European Rally. The season finale will take place in Japan in November.
