Thierry Neuville believes that Hyundai cannot match Toyota's level yet despite the good times that Hyundai drivers set at the stages of Rally Croatia and is of the opinion that his team has a work to do on car's performance.
Hyundai team secured its first double podium for the 2022 season in Croatia as Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville finished in second and third position overall respectively after the tough start their team faced in the first two races.
The major problem of Hyundai for this season is the hybrid unit as its drivers faced a power loss during the stages while Ott Tanak has a DNF due to the fact that he was forced to retire on the last day of Rallye Monte Carlo after a red light switching on which means that his i20N was unsafe to be driven.
"I don’t think we are at the same level as the Toyota yet, but somehow we were able to pull off some really good stage times in Croatia, knowing that the conditions were tricky and sometimes by pushing a bit harder you can easily make a gap", Neuville said.
"But I have to say, I felt comfortable driving it, so that’s a good point and after we can start working on the small details to increase the performance".
Finally, Neuville is talking about Rally de Portugal and his chances to win there due to this road position: "I’m going to be second on the road.
"Some very fast drivers are going to be starting very far behind, so at the end, the challenge will be for us to fight for the top five.
"Or maybe the podium.
"But I think the realistic goal will be the top five.
"We have, I think, five or six ahead of us starting far back who can go for the victory.
"So it’s going to be tough but we knew that.
"We knew that already after Sweden.
"If we messed up here we’d be in a bad starting position for there".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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