Hyundai will take to gravel for the first time with their updated car in Portugal, but that alone is no guarantee of success.
Reigning world championship leader Neuville’s weekend began quite promisingly on Thursday morning. He didn’t quite match the pace of the frontrunners in the shakedown, but the Belgian was nevertheless pleased with how things started.
“Feeling on shakedown was good, so that’s already a good start,” Neuville said.
Rally Portugal kicks off on Thursday evening with a short spectator stage, but the real action gets underway on Friday. Friday is the longest day of the event, featuring no less than ten special stages and two remote services. The cars won’t return to service park until long after sunset.
“It has always been tough on Friday, and a lot of things happen on Fridays. But now it’s even longer. At least we have a proper service and not only tyre fitting, so this is going to help,” Neuville said in anticipation of the longest day of the rally.
Hyundai’s performance with the updated car is still something of a question mark. And the biggest question, once again, is a familiar one – the new Hankook tyres.
“Updated tyres as well, so a lot to learn again. And yeah, I think it’s still one of our weakest points – to understand and learn more about the tyres,” Neuville admitted bluntly.
“Also, we are always missing two days of testing compared to our main competitors, so we pay the price,” he continued.
It’s been a difficult season so far for both Hyundai and Neuville. And the Belgian doesn’t expect a top result in Portugal either – even if he’s certainly hoping for one.
“It’s difficult to have any expectations – you don’t know where to set them. They are high, but the confidence is not so high at the moment. Nevertheless, the feeling on shakedown was good, so that’s already a good thing,” said Neuville.
