Playing the long game paid off, says Hyundai WRC boss Abiteboul

After both Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi retired from the first half of the Jyväskylä-based event it looked like the advantage would sit with rival team Toyota at round nine. However, the combination of a great Sunday run from Lappi and crashes for event leader Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans offered Hyundai the advantage.

The Frankfurt-based squad now leads the manufacturers' title race by 20 points with Neuville 27 clear of his nearest rival in the drivers' battle.

Abiteboul admitted it was with some trepidation that it had landed into Toyota’s home event - a rally the GR Yaris has dominated in recent years. He said: “We were obviously quite anxious coming into Finland, Toyota’s home event, their five cars and their excellent preparation here.

“It was, as we expected, a challenge and we were clearly on the back foot for the weekend from the very start, and things went from bad to worse with the loss of Ott and Martin’s car.

“The rest of the weekend was looking like it was going to be very difficult for us to come away with anything positive, but we managed to stay focused, play the long game and work with setups to try and mitigate our loss with the Sunday points.

“Today’s circumstances (Rovanperä and Evans’ crash) clearly helped, but we managed to give Thierry and EP what they needed to put the pressure on their opponents. We came away extending our lead in all championships.”