Thierry Neuville drove to third place at the WRC rally in Portugal – The Belgian was surprised by the solid result
Has Thierry Neuville made the impossible possible at the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Portugal? The Belgian finished third in his Hyundai i20 Rally1, extending his lead in the overall standings to 24 points. Toyota driver Elfyn Evans, who finished sixth in Portugal, is still in second place. The winner was his team-mate Sebastien Ogier
Neuville had not expected a top result, as he had to open the special stages on Friday and was therefore at a major disadvantage. But he did damage limitation, even winning a special stage on Friday and finishing just 18.1 seconds behind the leader. This meant that he still had a chance of victory, as the starting order was changed on Saturday and Sunday.
However, the Hyundai driver also had some luck, as he benefited from the retirements of Kalle Rovanperä, who as champion is completing a part-time program in the WRC. Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta also retired from third place. Neuville even finished second in the Super Sunday classification and scored important bonus points with his victory on the Power Stage.
Neuville extends his lead
At the end of the Rally Portugal, he had a total of 24 points in his account, 18 more than title rival Evans, who had a difficult weekend in Portugal. “Nobody expected us to be on the podium here, and extending our lead in the championship was almost impossible,” says Neuville.
“But somehow we did it with a strong performance on Friday, then we were consistent yesterday and today we fought hard for the extra points that made the difference,” said the Belgian happily.
“It’s a big lead [in the championship], but you can see how easy it is to lose points when you have problems like Elfyn did today,” added Neuville, who is happy to have made up important points thanks to the new points system in the WRC. Evans, on the other hand, did damage limitation and was classified sixth despite technical problems
Lots of bad luck for Evans
In addition, there was a bizarre incident: Evans’ team-mate Scott Martin forgot his notes on the sixth stage and had to read the navigation instructions from his cell phone. The Toyota duo also struggled with the balance of their Yaris right from the start. On the seventh stage, they also suffered a puncture.
“The six points are the only positive thing,” says Evans. “Of course you want to forget the weekend, but we have to learn from it and be ready for the next one. It’s still early in the season. It’s not what we had hoped for and we obviously need to work towards some strong rallies and see what’s possible.” Despite a 24-point deficit, the Welshman has not yet buried his title chances
