World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville sees Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier as his main title rival despite the latter yet to officially commit to the remaining rounds.
The WRC title race has a different complexion after a Rally Finland Neuville described as a «roller coaster of emotions» that has left the Belgian with a 27-point lead in the standings.
That lead is now over eight-time world champion Ogier, who is contesting a part-time campaign this year, which has yielded three wins and three second place finishes from his six rounds to date.
Ogier won last weekend’s Rally Finland claiming 24 points [18 on Saturday, five on Super Sunday and one on the Power Stage] which helped the Frenchman climb above full-timers Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Ott Tanak in the championship standings. Evans and Tanak both left Finland empty-handed after crashes and are now 36 and 31 points behind respectively.
Ogier has been asked by Toyota to drive the remaining events — Greece, Chile, Central Europe and Japan — with the Frenchman, who said he is yet to get a «feeling» for a ninth world title push, expected to make a decision in the next two weeks.
Neuville however has sights already fixed on Ogier as his title rival.
When asked who his main rival is after Finland, Neuville said: «Number two, which is Mr Ogier at the moment.
«He may not feel it [like pushing for a title] but he has been there on the last rallies and he’s fighting for every single point. For sure [I’m thinking about him].»
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Neuville’s Rally Finland had seemed like a damage limitation exercise as the Belgian struggled to find confidence behind the wheel of his i20 N.
However, shock retirements for long-time leader Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans on the penultimate stage earned Neuville 24 points, boosted by scoring eight of the 12 points available for Super Sunday.
Despite the challenges he faced with his car, Neuville felt his clever approach paid dividends in the circumstances.
«It was a pure roller coaster of emotions this weekend. We had high hopes, but somehow we realised already in shakedown that things were not working as we would like and it could be a challenging weekend, which it was,» he added.
«The performance wasn’t great all the time, it was a bit up and down and they were challenging [wet] conditions to drive in. We understood quickly that we had to have a clever approach and focus on bringing home important points.
«Our two team-mates that crashed out on Friday gave us a lot of pressure because the team desperately needed a car in the points, but we constantly managed and changed our approach according to the situation.»