Neuville is “not yet safe” in the fight for the title

By winning the Rally Finland at the beginning of August, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) positioned himself as a serious rival for the title against Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), leader of the standings since the start of the season, and who then only had a 27-point lead over the French driver.

But, subsequently, Ogier experienced two difficult rallies in Greece, then in Chile, which seriously compromised his chances of seeking a ninth world title. With only two events remaining this season – Central Europe and Japan – Neuville can now see it coming. With 29 points ahead of his teammate Ott Tänak, now his closest rival, the Belgian driver seems to have taken a serious option for his first world rally coronation.

However, Tänak doesn’t see it that way: third in the Chile Rally behind the Toyotas of Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans, but ahead of the Belgian, the 2019 world champion reduced the gap with his teammate, on which he is now 29 points behind. And, with 60 points still at stake in Central Europe and Japan, the Estonian intends to play his card to the fullest.

“It is obvious that the gap is very significant, but let’s say that Thierry is not yet safe,” declared Tänak after the Rally Chile. “We were perhaps a little lucky that Seb [Ogier] had some problems on Friday but, apart from that, we couldn’t do anything against the Toyotas [un scratch contre 13, ndlr]. We gave our all and scored everything we could.”

“Ils [Toyota] bounced back, but we’ll see now by going onto the asphalt [au Rallye d’Europe centrale] if we are in a good position. The fight is not over yet and we must work hard.”

The battle promises to be especially intense in the manufacturers’ championship, where Hyundai and Toyota are neck and neck. After its double in South America, the Japanese manufacturer has in fact come back to only 17 points behind its Korean rival.

Neuville intends to validate the title in Central Europe

For his part, Thierry Neuville hopes to quickly take cover for the drivers’ title, from the next event, in order to concentrate fully, with his teammates, on the fight for the manufacturers’ title with Hyundai.

“Obviously some drivers made mistakes early in the race and from there our plan and strategy had to be adapted, and we mainly focused on Ott,” declared Neuville, looking back on the progress of the Rally Chile.

“We did the right thing, but we need to make sure things [le titre pilotes] are done quickly, because there is still a constructors’ championship to go, and we have to make sure that for Japan, we can fight properly for this title. It’s important not to have any internal struggle and to be ready to beat Toyota.”

“We lost 18 points [contre Toyota]. Certainly there is a fight between Ott and I that continues and no one will take the biggest risks, but we lost important points against Toyota. They will bring a lot of cars [au Japon] and will also do so in Central Europe. We need to have a good approach and strategy as a team to make sure we don’t lose the Constructors’ Championship.”