Why has Neuville’s title defense gone so wrong?

How has Thierry Neuville’s World Rally Championship title defense gone so badly wrong? Round-by-round, here’s the reason why the Belgian threw the towel in on Saturday night in Jyväskylä.

Monte Carlo Rally – 6th

Just two months after standing on top of the world at Rally Japan, the newly stickered #1 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 was tearing through the French Alps at all sorts of angles. Neuville slapped banks, got punctures, had electrical issues and eventually finished a deeply disgruntled sixth – a far cry from the win he celebrated in the principality 12 months earlier.