Neuville ultimately finished second in Finland, and the rally’s winner, Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, managed to reduce the points gap to the Belgian by only one point. The duo is now separated by 27 points, with only four rallies left to run.
Neuville was naturally pleased. This was the kind of result he came to Finland looking for.
“We didn’t expect this result this morning,” Neuville admitted openly.
“However, we managed to drive well and consistently today. Kalle’s (Rovanperä’s) retirement changed everything, of course. On the Power Stage, we weren’t as fast as we could have been, but in the end, Ogier only closed the gap by one point,” Neuville recounted.
Kalle Rovanperä retired on Sunday from the lead on the penultimate stage in the last corner. Before that, Elfyn Evans had already gone off. Evans didn’t get any points from Finland.
“I was very surprised by what happened to Evans and then ten minutes later to Kalle. It took a moment to fully understand what happened and what it meant for the next special stage,” Neuville recounted.
“Then we had to start analysing what it means and what it implies for the championship fight. How many points do we need now? It was continuous situation analysis,” Neuville continued.
Neuville has been close to the championship many times, but it has always remained a dream. At least for now.
“We will continue the fight to the end. We were really close in 2018 and many other years it has been really close. A 27-point lead is not that bad, but there are still four races left,” Neuville analysed.
