WRC – Thierry Neuville added two more stage wins to his tally to move up to third place

Hyundai Motorsport is involved in a thrilling fight for victory at Rally de Portugal, round seven of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), with Thierry Neuville holding third place, just 9.2s from leader Ott Tänak.

Following a frustrating Friday, the team regrouped and focused on rebuilding its rally, aiming to salvage as many championship points as possible from its Portuguese weekend. It was a full-on team effort across all three Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews.

Saturday’s schedule covered 160 kilometres of special stages over two complicated loops, the longest day of the event in terms of distance. Three stages – Vieira do Minho (20.53km), Cabeceiras de Basto (22.22km) and Amarante (37.60km) – were tackled twice with lunchtime service separating the two loops.

Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul ended Friday strongly with two stage wins and aimed to continue that momentum into Saturday. Tyre strategy played its part on both loops but the Belgians initially fended off Sébastien Ogier for fourth and then moved up into third. The crew secured their third and fourth stage wins of the weekend in SS12 (Cabaceiras de Basto 2) and SS13 (Amarante 2) to slash the gap to leader Ott Tänak (9.2s) and second-placed Kris Meeke (4.9s).

Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio and Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena fought back from opening day disappointment to support the team in its championship push. The team elected to check in both crews late during the morning loop to support Neuville/Gilsoul in their podium pursuit.

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (#11 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Belgians moved into victory contention after a strong team spirit on Saturday
• Stage win in SS12 and SS13 elevated the crew into third just 9.2s from the lead

Neuville said: “It has been a strong day for us and I’m pleased to reaffirm our potential here this weekend. It’s been a first-class team effort. We made a strategic call to take six soft tyres for the morning loop, which was perhaps a mistake because of the extra weight. It wasn’t too bad and we were able to keep Ogier behind us. We had five tyres in the afternoon and looked to build a gap, which we did, as well as move closer to the podium. It wasn’t easy on the second pass with some rocks on the line and a far from trouble-free final stage. However, the speed has definitely been there with another two stage wins. We now have Meeke and Tanäk in our sights; it promises to be an exciting battle for the win on Sunday.”

Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (#6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Competitive performances from the Spaniards supported the team’s championship efforts
• Third place in SS12 reinforced the crew’s rally-leading Friday pace

Sordo said: “There’s not much to say after the disappointment from Friday but we never give up, particularly when our main job is to support the team’s championship ambitions. We weren’t able to match the times set by the frontrunners today; they were just out of reach. We have done our best and also used the opportunity to prepare a bit for Sardinia. We had a good feeling for much of the day and our job now is to complete the rally smoothly, to soak up the atmosphere from the amazing fans and to enjoy these wonderful stages.”

Crew Notes: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (#19 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Steady stages for the nine-time WRC champions as they supported Neuville/Gilsoul
• Crew aiming to secure important manufacturer points

Loeb said: “It’s never as much fun when you are not fighting for the leading positions, but we acknowledge we have a team role to play and we’ve done that today. My situation doesn’t change much in the circumstances because our chances for a strong finish were over on the opening day. We have simply been concentrated on each stage as it comes. We didn’t drive anywhere near the limit, playing it safely so we can bring home some important points for the team.”

Team Director Andrea Adamo: “It has been a massive team effort today. We have been able to play catch-up with Thierry moving up the overall classification to third, right on the tails of the leading duo. We have also shown a reasonably good performance with our i20 Coupe WRC. On the one hand this is a positive, but on the other it makes what happened yesterday even more disappointing. We should have had more cars fighting for the leading positions; the situation has to teach us some important lessons about the way we approach rallies. We must categorically avoid these mistakes from occurring in the future. I would like to thank Dani/Carlos and Sébastien/Daniel for the amazing job and valued teamwork they have shown today. They accepted what we asked of them to change their starting position to support Thierry and Nicolas. It shows how much our crews are committed to winning together and the team spirit that we have.”

Sunday at a glance

• Five stages remain on the Rally de Portugal itinerary including the legendary Fafe
• Sunday gets underway with the 8.76km Montim stage, followed by the first run through Fafe (11.18km) and the only attempt at Luilhas (11.89km).
• Montim will be repeated before the fans flock to Fafe for a fanfare finale. A total of 51.77km will be contested on Sunday ending with a thrilling jump to the finish.

Classification after Day Two

Press release Hyundai Motorsport