The reigning world champion’s season has been a major disappointment. Neuville dropped out of the title fight well in advance, and his fate was sealed in the previous round in Central Europe, where even his mathematical chances were crushed.
Neuville does, however, have fond memories of Rally Japan from previous years. The Belgian celebrated victory there in 2022, when the event returned to the WRC calendar. Since then, success has eluded him, although last season’s sixth place was enough to secure Neuville the first world title of his career.
This year, Toyota has completely dominated Hyundai. Especially on tarmac, the Japanese manufacturer has been virtually unbeatable. Hyundai, for its part, has already shifted its focus to next season.
“We’ve definitely had some great memories in Japan. We’re very keen to go back and target another good result, but in our current position we have to focus on improving the car and learning as much as we can from this event, rather than on a top result,” Neuville says.
“We know how technically challenging the event is – it is probably the most twisty event I’ve ever done on tarmac! It’s very demanding and requires a lot of energy and concentration. Due to the time of year, we’re expecting lots of leaves, tricky road conditions and lots of humidity – everything is possible in Japan!”
Hyundai’s French driver Adrien Fourmaux echoes Neuville’s thoughts. The most important thing is to make the car better.
“Rally Japan is unique. The mountain stages are twisty, narrow, and quite dark due to the high trees. In the dry, it is demanding on the tyres, but in the rain it is a completely different challenge. There is a lot of pollution on the roads, which get really slippery, and combined with the visibility it can be really tricky,” Fourmaux sums up.
“We struggled for some performance in CER, so we want to show the steps we have made since that rally. Last year was a great event for us, and we would like to replicate that result and be back on the podium in Japan.”
A total of 20 special stages will be driven in the Rally Japan, covering a distance of around 305 kilometres. The rally gets underway with the shakedown stage in the early hours of Thursday morning CET.
