Neuville determined to make it three Rally Spain victories in a row

The Belgian’s previous two Spain successes came in 2019 when it ran as a dual surface competition, and again in 2021 when it was purely Tarmac based.

On both occasions, he proved untouchable on his way to the podiums’ top step.

His one – and only – victory so far this season has been at Acropolis Rally Greece where he led home a one-two-three finish for the South Korean manufacturer – its first since joining the series nearly a decade ago.

Just weeks before that on Ypres Rally in Belgium, Neuville threw away the chance to win on home soil when he left the road at the end of the penultimate day and inflicted terminal damage on his I20 N Rally1 car.

But having triumphed in Spain twice already, Neuville is understandably confident – a feeling that is shared by his boss, Julien Moncet. Besides their wins, the Alzenau-based squad has enjoyed seven top-three performances at the Salou-based meeting on recent visits.

“I think Rally de España is quite straightforward now that it is back to being a full Tarmac event,” said Neuville, who is currently third overall in the World Rally Championship’s standings on 144 points.

“The roads are flat, wide, and smooth, and the grip level is more or less the same across all of the stages. Being quick there is about getting a good set-up and finding a nice flow with the car – then pushing as hard as you can.

“The gaps are always very small, so it almost feels like you are driving on a race track, fighting for every tenth of a second.”

He added: “It would be nice to take a third win in a row in Spain; we will certainly be aiming to fight at the front and finish the event on the podium again. We will try our best to perform to our maximum and secure a good result for the team.”

Signing off on a set-up that doesn’t induce understeer on the weaving Spanish roads is one of the factors Neuville’s team-mate Ott Tanak believes could have a say as to who finishes where come the end-of-rally Power Stage.

This problem has affected the I20 N Rally1 on previous asphalt rounds and Tanak especially has struggled to find a way to drive around it. “It is always difficult to find the correct balance there, so our confidence in the car will need to be high,” said the Estonian.

“The stages have lots of long, fast corners that make you fight with understeer, which is something we will have to get right with the set-up of the car.

“I am expecting it to be a fun and enjoyable rally, but it also quite important for us to be competitive and fight for as many points as possible,” added the 2019 World champion.

“We showed how good our Tarmac package is in Croatia [second and third] and Belgium [overall winners], and our aim is to continue that streak in Spain.”