Thierry Neuville: "There's a race between the Hyundais and another between the Toyotas at the front."

Oliver Solberg only needed one special stage this Saturday morning to put his Yaris Rally1 in front of the Hyundai i20 d'Adrien fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi, who had managed to finish ahead on Friday. Thus, we find four Toyota in the first four rows, ahead of the three Hyundais including that of Thierry Neuville who had to settle for seventh place, two minutes behind Elfyn Evans, the new leader. The Belgian driver nevertheless felt he had done a good job on the first three stages of the day.

"I'm satisfied with the morning's loop, I'm happy with my riding."he told us into our microphone. "The gaps remained the same as yesterday, but I would say it was a little easier because the conditions remained more consistent. The car was therefore a little simpler to drive, with fewer surprises, so we could have a little more fun."

While the three Hyundai drivers are satisfied with their driving performance, it's clear that the pace simply isn't there in their i20s this weekend. This is a characteristic that leads Neuville to describe this Rally Sweden's two-tiered racing scene, with Toyotas on one side and Hyundais on the other, is hardly reassuring as the championship continues, especially considering he had to wait until the final round in Saudi Arabia to finally win a rally in 2025, during his world title defense.

“When you look at the gaps since yesterday, we were within half a second per kilometer yesterday morning, yesterday afternoon, and again this morning. It’s the same for my teammates, who are a little slower, but we’re within a few seconds of each other. There’s a race between the Hyundais and a race between the Toyotas at the front. I think we have reason to be worried. This hasn’t just started yesterday; we struggled all last year, and it was difficult.”

Somewhat resigned, Neuville believes that for the Korean brand, this year again, it will have to hope for challenging rallies to have any chance of coming out on top and beating Toyotas that seem unbeatable today: “We can expect it to be complicated, but now we need to focus on races where pure performance doesn't always guarantee a result. We know that on gravel we have a high risk of punctures, and that's what allowed us to achieve victories in Saudi Arabia and Greece. Throughout the season, we'll need to focus more on 'endurance' races and difficult races.”

Before looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Hyundai team will first have to continue fighting in Sweden, with four special stages this afternoon and three more tomorrow morning.

Interview by Pierre Barré, in Umeå (Sweden)

ALSO READ > Rally Sweden – SS11: Solberg makes a comeback, Evans leads the rally