World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville admits he will not take any chances as he closes in on a long-awaited maiden WRC crown. That means he’ll likely alter his approach from the one that has served him well so far in 2024.
Neuville’s victory and 24-point haul on Acropolis Rally Greece has left him in a commanding position in the title race with only three events remaining. The Hyundai driver holds a 34-point advantage over team-mate Ott Tänak and is 38 points clear of Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier ahead of Rally Chile later this month.
Even if Neuville non-scores in South America, he will still lead the standings heading to the final two rounds of the season – both of which are on asphalt where being first on the road is usually an advantage.
Neuville has topped the points table since the first round, when he claimed a full house on the Monte Carlo Rally. Unlike team-mate Esapekka Lappi on the following event in Sweden, the Belgian was not content to take it easy on Sunday and protect his lead. He immediately recognized the importance of maximizing all scoring opportunities under the new-for-2024 points system.
“We took the 30 possible points on the first attempt with the new regulations,” Neuville told DirtFish, “and we quickly understood at that time that Sundays would be important. It doesn’t [matter] which position you’re in, even if you’re leading the rally, the Sunday is crucial and you need to push for it. So that’s what we have done.
“Obviously being first on the road so far on all rallies has been a handicap. So the target has always been to continuously improve our road position day-by-day to be in a good position to chase more points on Sunday.
“And somehow it has worked well, and we have taken the necessary risks on Sunday so far to secure more points.
“But now the story might be different – we have a good lead and now it’s all about protecting those points for the last three remaining rounds.”
The 36-year-old knows that, realistically, all he needs to do is avoid disasters and the championship will be his. Only twice so far this year has he left a rally with fewer than 14 points – in Latvia when road order and unusually low attrition among his rivals severely hampered his efforts, and Sardinia where he bounced back from a Saturday off to bag a Sunday maximum dozen.
Neuville won Rally Chile last year - and finished second on Central European Rally
Clean runs to the finish in Chile, on the Central European Rally and on Rally Japan should bring more than enough points to seal the deal without needing to take risks chasing those Sunday bonuses.
Asked if having stablemate Tänak as his closest rival had any effect, Neuville added: “No, not at all the approach. Our strategy has to be to be consistent, get to the finish.
“We know that with three remaining rounds and some Tarmac rounds – where already we know in Germany we will be first on the road – we have good hopes for another good result.
“We need the reliability and the luck as well with us. But we’re going to make the necessary things it needs to be competitive and take home some points on the next event to keep that lead.”
