Hyundai has entered Neuville into the fourth round of Spain’s Gravel Cup, Rallye Ciudad de Granada, which will take place on Saturday.
This race will provide Neuville with valuable preparation for the upcoming WRC round in Chile. Hyundai is determined to do everything possible to ensure Neuville’s potential championship win.
Neuville currently holds a solid 34-point lead over teammate Ott Tänak with only three rounds remaining in the season. Last weekend, Neuville secured a crucial victory at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, which ended with a Hyundai 1-2-3 finish.
Check out the full WRC standings here.
Before the Acropolis Rally, Neuville completed a test for the Chilean gravel rally at the team’s testing grounds in Finland. Teams are not permitted to test outside Europe for distant WRC events, so they utilize test locations closer to home for preparation.
Testing under race conditions provides an additional boost to Neuville’s preparations. In Granada, he’ll have the chance to fine-tune the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 over 100 competitive kilometers, adjusting the car in real race conditions.
Hyundai has previously used national rallies this season, as these events do not count as official test days. Esapekka Lappi competed in Lithuania’s rally series in July with the team’s Rally1 car, Andreas Mikkelsen entered an Italian tarmac rally in April, and Dani Sordo raced in a Spanish gravel rally the same month. Ott Tänak also competed in a national event alongside the European Rally Championship round in Estonia but had a heavy crash.
Earlier this season, Neuville had complained that he too should participate in a test rally. He was supposed to join Lappi in Lithuania before the WRC round in Latvia, but the test rally was canceled for him after Tänak’s crash caused significant damage to the team’s test car.
Now, however, the Belgian’s wish is finally coming true.
Granada will also feature two other interesting international drivers. Finnish driver Mikko Heikkilä will compete in a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, while Latvian driver Martins Sesks will race in a Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Like Neuville, Sesks will also participate in the Chilean WRC round two weeks later. For Sesks, it will be his third WRC appearance in the top class with the Ford Puma Rally1 car.
Heikkilä will be a good benchmark for Sesks, as the Finn won the Granada rally last year.
