Thierry Neuville still expects to struggle at this week’s Rally Japan, despite winning the latest World Rally Championship round in Portugal.
The 2024 world champion delivered Hyundai its first victory of 2026 in Portugal, profiting from reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier’s late puncture on the penultimate stage.
Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley described that result as “a real tonic for the team”, but nobody within the team is counting on a repeat in Japan.
That’s because the i20 N Rally1’s underlying performance deficit to the benchmark Toyota remains on Tarmac, but the entire second half of 2026 is to be held on gravel.
“I mean, first of all, we need to set back after that victory ahead of Japan and tell us that we don’t need to expect too much of a performance over there,” Neuville told DirtFish. “But we should not leave any stone unturned ahead of that event and try to build on that confidence boost.
Hyundai won on gravel, but knows it doesn’t have the same performance on Tarmac
“Sometimes you just need a bit of confirmation and confidence to pick up speed. But I think after Japan, yeah, we know that on gravel, at some point we will also have better road positions and so on. We can build on that.
“However, we know that we are currently still fighting to find performance on Tarmac,” he added. “We’re expecting a difficult weekend in Japan.”
Wheatley feels “winning is a step too far” this week but sees no reason why Hyundai “can’t be on the edge of the podium”.
“Particularly [with] Adrien [Fourmaux], he’s super keen to go there and be competitive,” Wheatley said. “But I think, realistically, we need to make sure we minimise any problems, make sure we put ourselves in the position to be competitive when the opportunity arises.
“But for Greece, it’s game on.”
Hayden Paddon joins Neuville and Fourmaux in Hyundai’s Rally Japan lineup.
