Title-hunting Neuville predicts 'challenging' Rally Japan

Hyundai star and FIA World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville is expecting a challenging FORUM8 Rally Japan next week as he looks to make sporting history in Toyota City.

The Belgian will land into the 13th and final WRC round of the season with the benefit of added seat time, having just completed an asphalt rally in Spain last weekend. But he lands with one objective in mind.

Neuville said: “The target at Rally Japan is to bring home that drivers’ title and to support the team in the fight for the manufacturers’ championship as well. We have done a good job on that already throughout the season, but of course if there is any opportunity where we can support those efforts, then we will.”

While stable conditions are being predicted in long-range weather forecasts, Neuville is well aware that can change quickly.

“In Japan,” he said, “the weather and the roads make the biggest difference. They are super dirty when it’s cold, and the leaves on the road make grip very challenging. There are also some new stages, so altogether it’s going to be a very challenging event.”

While there’s no local testing for the Rally1 crews in Japan, Neuville is a former winner of the Aichi event.

He concluded: “With no testing for Japan, all of our information has been carried over from Central European Rally. We have plenty of the feedback from previous years here, so we can predict the starting set-up now before doing the fine tuning when we arrive in Japan.”