Rally News

Neuville relying on WRC teammates for Sweden set-up after illness

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

The Belgian is still recovering from flu which prevented him from taking part in the second of two test days on the snow in Finland to prepare for his weekend’s second round of the WRC season.

Neuville was able to conduct one day of testing, but melting conditions didn’t provide an accurate representation for Sweden.

The illness meant teammate Craig Breen was handed an extra test day, while Esapekka Lappi was offered plenty of mileage thanks to Hyundai’s decision to field its new signing in a round of the Finnish Rally Championship last weekend.

Neuville says he has no major concerns heading into Rally Sweden following the lack of test miles, but admits he will have to rely on the set-up direction and feedback found by Breen and Lappi in testing.

“I had to skip my second day and the first day we had melting conditions so we had a s*** day and we had no second test day,” Neuville told Motorsport.com.

“I will have to rely on my teammates as they have both given good feedback and had good testing. I’m quite confident that I will quickly adjust to the car. I have no major concerns.”

Neuville emerged as a contender for victory on the snow in Sweden last year before eventually finishing second behind Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera.

Asked about his expectations this weekend, he added: “It will depend on the feeling in the car, usually we have been fast over here in Sweden.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I don’t expect anything else to be honest but the performance of the car will be crucial again.

“Last year we had better speed than we expected after Monte Carlo and hopefully this year we are up to speed.

“I think this weekend we will see the benefits of the new aerodynamics on the car, so hopefully this helps us. The event is certainly fast enough to make the aero work.”

After completing the recce yesterday Neuville believes the new stages added to the 2023 Sweden schedule are worse than 12 months ago, after drivers criticised the amount of long straights last year.

“It is what we said last year. For me, the new stages are worse than what we had last year,” he said.

“The two new stages we have on Saturday morning are worse. For the rest of the rally Friday’s stage profile is okay, they are a bit more twisty and exciting. Sunday is okay too.

“Saturday, except the last stage of the day, which is okay, is not going to be as fun as you would expect from a snow…

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