Neuville currently sits fifth in the standings, 4.9 seconds behind rally leader Kalle Rovanperä of Toyota.
Despite still being in contention for a top result, the Belgian didn’t find much enjoyment in the high-speed stages of the morning.
“Fast morning out there, like you said. A little bit too fast for my liking,” Neuville admitted.
“And obviously I spoke to many drivers — nobody was really enjoying it at that speed. So yeah, generally not feeling so comfortable. It’s pretty much about how much risk you take — the faster you go, the bigger the risk. That’s not what I enjoy the most,” he complained.
Still, Neuville acknowledged that his morning wasn’t a disaster.
“But we had a decent morning. Still, we’re in a good fight for a strong position, so we have to keep working in the same way.”
Neuville made it clear he believes Rally Finland has changed for the worse.
“I wasn’t really enjoying it this morning. Nobody was. It’s just too fast. The roads are getting wider and wider every year, and there’s no proper driving anymore. It’s just about keeping it flat and taking as much risk as you can, going as fast as possible. I mean, it’s so hard to make a difference by actually driving — by braking late, positioning the car well, or having a good balance. It’s not about that anymore. It’s just flat out, throw the car in, and cross your fingers that it sticks through the corner,” Neuville criticised.
Neuville’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux, however, was in a completely different mood. The Frenchman had a strong morning in the gravel lanes of Central Finland, finishing the loop in second place, just 4.4 seconds behind Rovanperä.
“It’s a big fight for the top positions, I’d say. Quite intense — but I like being in this fight,” Fourmaux summarised.
The Frenchman also predicted that the afternoon stages could see some separation.
“This afternoon, there’ll be some natural variation between the first and second passes, so we expect the lines to be a bit narrower. Not exactly the same lines we used earlier. So I expect the gaps to grow a bit this afternoon. We’ll try to take full advantage of that,” Fourmaux added.
