Thierry Neuville: “One of the most beautiful victories”

One of the most beautiful duels of recent years, in the vein of a Sébastien confrontation Loeb – Marcus Gronhölm, hosted the end of the Rally from Italy – Sardinia. On the island tracks, Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) have offered a constant fight since Saturday morning.

And if the Belgian chased the world champion for a long time, even surpassing a puncture yesterday, it was at the decisive moment that the championship leader dealt the blow, in the Power Stage.

Leading by eight tenths before this decisive sector, the driver of the i20 Coupe WRC achieved an almost flawless performance to sign a perfect morning and win by seven tenths.

" I can not believe it, confesses Neuville after the finish. We knew we had to give it our all this morning, and it was a really fantastic fight with Sébastien. The gap at the end is so small and we left absolutely nothing behind.

We continued to attack as hard as we could without doing anything stupid. Fighting Seb is one of the hardest things, so it’s a valuable victory. »

The sky as an ally Friday

The Hyundai driver, first to open the road on Friday, also benefited from a helping hand from the weather with wet conditions which partially wiped out the sweeping phenomenon on the first day. Enough to stay in touch with the top places.

“Starting first on the road on Friday was a disadvantage, but the rain helped a little, recognizes Neuville. We never gave up and that's one of the greatest victories of our career.

Leading both championships before the break gives us all the motivation we need for the second half of the season. »

Neuville now has a 27-point lead over Sébastien Ogier before the next WRC meeting in Finland (July 26-29).

Discover the full report and analysis of the Rally Italy, produced by our special correspondent in Sardinia, in issue 2169 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.