Neuville remains Rovanpera’s nearest rival in the championship standings after Rally Portugal, but is already facing a 46-point deficit after the Finn scored his third consecutive victory.
The Belgian has encountered mechanical or technical issues in all four rallies to date, with his shot at a possible victory in Portugal last weekend extinguished when a driveshaft failure struck during a road section.
Neuville had been sitting second overall, 7.0s adrift of then leader Elfyn Evans, but ended Friday 1m46.4s away from top spot before going on to finish the rally in fifth.
The failure triggered a boil-over of emotions from Neuville, having seen opportunities to win in Croatia and Sweden slip through his grasp following a combination of reliability issues and errors.
During a stage end interview, Neuville pointed to a picture on his phone to explain the issue before swearing in frustration.
Reflecting on yet another missed chance, he told Motorsport.com: “Definitely [a podium was on] and maybe even a fight for the victory could have been possible.
“It would have been tough but we were right behind Elfyn before the issues, so there was a lot to play for but unfortunately the problem arrived and we did the best out of the situation.
“It is getting more and more difficult to be honest,” he replied, when asked about trying to stay calm in these situations. “It is very frustrating, we are here too fight for the championship and I have won rallies and been on the podium, but the target is to win the championship.
“We can see now that already one driver is pulling away so there is already quite big gap and it makes it difficult to catch back up.
“We can only congratulate Toyota on their performance and their reliability which is something we are clearly missing, and that is making a big difference at the moment.
“That is why they are so strong and that is why Kalle can score victory after victory. This is something we need very soon.
“We are close [to Toyota on…
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