It was a tough day at the office for Thierry Neuville, the leader of the FIA World Rally Championship. He was the first on the road at Tet Rally Liepaja, and it was a challenging day for road sweeping.
His car was visibly struggling, at times losing 10 seconds on a stage. This is not new to him, as he has led the Championship all year. During the year, he has remained calm, but today he was visibly frustrated. Additionally, he has Rally Finland next, which will be another tough task.
However, he ended up just ahead of his Hyundai teammate, in what was a difficult day for the team.
“It has been said many times over the years, and still, when Ogier was opening, there was always a tarmac rally in the middle of the gravel rallies. Now, even with a 40-point lead, there’s no way to keep those points. So we have to fight. That’s what we do.”
Is there a solution, perhaps a qualifying stage, like in the FIA ERC?
“But how many years? Nobody wants it? I guess that if the Promoter is super happy, the young driver driving for a second time, starting 10th on the road and unable to set fast this time. So that’s what they like, but that’s not what the manufacturers want,” Neuville said.
Perhaps he is right, but the road position has always been the equivalent of the BoP, something to make the Championship interesting.
Ogier was also a victim of his own success here and complained bitterly. With Neuville still facing the pressure of winning his first Championship, this might be starting to irritate the Belgian more than normal.
One solution may be, as he mentioned, to include a tarmac round to break up the gravel and address the road order issue. In any case, tomorrow will be a tough day as the crews move closer to Liepaja and softer gravel.
With no cuts allowed, and the organizers needing to look after the roads, it will be hard to limit the damage. With no mistakes from the Rally1 cars, Neuville will be second on the road tomorrow.
Overcoming this will require Neuville to put in a Champion’s effort to secure a handful of important championship points.
