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Thierry Neuville believes Hyundai Motorsport’s i20 N Rally1 is still lacking in comparison to Toyota on high-speed World Rally Championship gravel events – as demonstrated on this weekend’s Rally Estonia.
Neuville started day two of the Tartu-based meeting three seconds behind overnight leader and double event winner Kalle Rovanpera following a closely fought battle on Friday.
However, a quickest time on the opening Saturday stage by the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver set the tone for what was to unfold over the following eight tests as he rhymed off fastest time after fastest time. Added up, the 22-year-old’s advantage at the top of the leaderboard currently stands at 34.9 seconds.
A front right puncture on stage 12 took the gloss off what would have otherwise been a perfect day at the office, said Neuville, but even had it not happened he conceded there was little he could have done to keep pace with Rovanpera. Hyundai Motorsport’s Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul was of a similar view, saying “Kalle was simply too strong … he just wasn’t within our reach”.
“It was a great day. I felt really good in the car and I think we drove the car to its maximum most of the time,” explained Neuville, who has repeatedly said over the course of the fixture so far that he finds the i20 N easier to gauge, and much easier to drive, at eleven tenths in a country where speed is king.
“We were driving the car to its maximum most of the time and having a lot of fun while still feeling comfortable. We made no mistakes and had no moments – but we got unlucky with a puncture.”
Barring an error on Rovanpera’s part – or a mechanical failure with his car – the Belgian is not going to win the eighth round of the Championship in a straight fight. However, with team-mate Esapekka Lappi less than 11 seconds in arrears with four Sunday stages to tackle, second place is far from certain.
“The goal tomorrow is to bring home the result, but Esapekka and Elfyn [Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing] are pushing hard behind us,” said Neuville. “Esapekka has had an incredible day – I felt I was driving really well and we were nearly matching times in the stages, which shows that our car is giving us what we need to go fast.
“We have been strong in the past here and the car feels good, but we are clearly missing something that would get us closer to Kalle.”
