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Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is confident he can further narrow the performance gap that exists between himself and Kalle Rovanpera in time for next weekend’s Rally Finland.
The two drivers were in different leagues on last weekend’s Estonia Rally, with Rovanpera running away with the win – and the extra five bonus points on the Power Stage – to put more daylight between himself and his rivals in the drivers’ standings.
Despite the near 53 second gap between first and second places, the feeling within the Hyundai camp is that important gains have been found with the i20 N Rally1 car on smooth and fast-flowing fixtures like Estonia.
Previously, the Alzenau-based squad has struggled to make an impression, although the fact he led for a part of Friday before having to step aside for a charging Rovanpera has given Neuville reason to be optimistic moving forward.
“To be honest I am very happy. I mean, we came here with the expectation of fighting for a podium and to be in the lead midway through Friday is something we would not have expected, and then at least trying to keep up the pressure on Kalle on Saturday morning was working a little bit until we collected a puncture,” said Neuville.
“I am really pleased with the result – it is a good motivation for myself to see that on such a fast rally I found the confidence with the car I need and a setting I need and it also gives me more motivation for Finland now because usually I go there with not so much motivation and it is not such a fun event for me in past years but I have the feeling this year it is going to be different.”
Neuville believes a change of key personnel in recent months – including the signing of Easpekka Lappi from Toyota Gazoo Racing for 2023 – has helped with the direction of the i20 N Rally1 car, which has also evolved and been improved with the introduction of fresh up-dates.
“For a couple of years, it was difficult because we didn’t have the car and for a couple of years, we had a good car but I made mistakes and last year was just very difficult but now I feel more comfortable in the car,” said the Belgian.
“I also have to mention that I am driving on Finland’s roads quite a lot now as our test base is over there, so somehow, I am getting used to those roads and the speed and I think also this is one of the points that has helped me in Estonia.
“And together with Esapekka, I think we have the same likings as far as what we want from the car and somehow during the test sessions, two-days testing, three-days testing, we can work in the same direction which is very helpful for both of us and also the team because we don’t lose time.”
