Already without a chance of winning the title, Thierry Neuville arrives at the Rally of Japan fighting for second place in the World Rally Championship (WRC). This position is only seven points away, currently occupied by Elfyn Evans (Toyota). At the same time, he has to defend a 22-point lead over Ott Tänak (M-Sport Ford).
After his second victory of the year, the Belgian driver from Hyundai is confident for the final round – recalling that he won there in 2022: ‘We go to Japan with the experience from the Central European Rally on asphalt and a victory from last year. It’s an exciting event in a country that I really like, particularly the culture and the environment. The fans are very excited to see the WRC and I think we will see even more enthusiastic fans supporting us this year – I didn’t even know I had so many fans in Japan until I went there last year. It was so beautiful to see’.
As for what he expects from the rally itself, Neuville commented: ‘In order to be successful, we need to make sure we avoid understeer and make the right decisions about the tires; this time of year means that the conditions can be tricky. Hopefully, we can continue our success and have another good experience’.
