Home hero Neuville’s Hyundai redemption
Recent World Rally Championship events have resembled the hit movie Groundhog Day for Hyundai; a constantly recurring theme of bright starts only for disaster to unfold. But in Belgium, for once, everything went to script for Thierry Neuville and Hyundai.
Local heroes Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe produced an Ypres Rally masterclass to record a memorable WRC win on the event’s championship debut. It was Neuville’s first victory since the 2020 Monte Carlo Rally, and Hyundai ended its drought in style as Craig Breen completed a 1-2.
Pressure had been mounting on a Hyundai squad without a win since Ott Tanak’s triumph at February’s Arctic Rally Finland. To make matters worse, reliability woes and misfortune had kiboshed likely victories in the previous four rallies in Portugal, Italy, Kenya and Estonia, allowing rival Toyota to gallop into a healthy lead in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. In a bid to end its run of poor form, Hyundai adopted an even more thorough “no stone left unturned” preparation, according to team boss Andrea Adamo. Even Neuville elected to use an extra
