Thierry Neuville: “We are on the hunt”

Si Ott Tänak (Toyota) masters the Rally of Sweden masterfully, the fight for places on the podium promises to be sumptuous tomorrow on the last three special stages on the program.

Behind the tandem Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) – Esapekka Lappi (Citroën), tied for second place tonight, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) patiently reduced his delay today, to stand 2″3 behind his two rivals.

A gap which could have been smaller, even to the advantage of the Belgian, without a small mistake in SS14. But Neuville remains largely satisfied with his performance today, particularly given the seriously deteriorated road conditions, with a lot of dirt on the timed sectors.

“We made good progress today and second place is now clearly in our sights, relates Neuville. It will be a close battle between several crews, making for an exciting final day.

Today I tried to focus on finding grip and traction in difficult conditions. I lacked a bit of confidence in the faster sections, but overall we had a positive day.

We were on the attack in SS14 when I was thrown off the ideal line and spun. We lost four or five seconds, but we reacted immediately to minimize the loss of time. The game is on for second place tomorrow, and we are on the hunt »

Neuville could carry out a good accounting operation in the championship against Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) eliminated from the race for the podium after its mistake on Friday.