Top Performer – Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe
It had been almost a year since Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe last tasted victory, on Rally Spain October last year to be precise. So climbing the top step of the podium in Greece last weekend was described as a “relief”.
Neuville has been knocking on the door on several occasions this season, but has often been let down by fragile machinery. That said, driver error while leading in Belgium perhaps robbed him of his best chance of a win prior to last weekend’s success.
In Greece, however, Neuville delivered. The Belgian duo scored more stage wins (five) than anyone else as they led home a history-making maiden 1-2-3 for Hyundai, ahead of Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo. Neuville drove smartly through arguably the roughest gravel stages of the season while his rivals fell by the wayside one by one.
Ultimately the key to victory was his ability to remain only 16.0s adrift of the lead battle after being fourth on the road on Friday. While early leaders Sebastien Loeb and Pierre-Louis Loubet both hit trouble, Neuville was there to capitalise, and despite some overheating issues his i20 N proved to be among the most resilient.
While the victory was eventually secured once Hyundai deployed team orders to safeguard its 1-2-3 finish, Neuville had built up a 25s lead over Tanak before the call was made ahead of the rally’s penultimate stage. This was the perfect response from Neuville after the agony of letting a home victory slip from his grasp in Belgium.
The headline-making team orders spat between himself and Ott Tanak could have proved a distraction, but Neuville blocked the internal politics from his mind and duly delivered.
“It has been a tough season so far and to get the victory after a very difficult weekend in Belgium is a relief,” said Neuville. “The most important thing is we have a 1-2-3 for the team – after all these years we finally got it and it’s a historical moment for the brand and the team. Everybody has worked hard for this and it’s a nice reward.”
Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
Honourable mentions:
There are several drivers worthy of a special mention following their heroics at the Acropolis.
Firstly, Tanak once again outlined his natural talent and unique ability to drive around mechanical issues. On Friday the 2019 world champion was without the use of his…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – RALLY – Stories…