WRC Rally Greece
Neuville: Acropolis Rally exit has ended my WRC title bid
Thierry Neuville believes his slim World Rally Championship title hopes are now over after retiring from the lead of the Acropolis Rally.
Tom Howard
Edited: Sep 10, 2023, 4:33 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Hyundai driver headed to Greece sitting 36 points adrift of Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera, but was in strong position to close the gap after starting Saturday with a 25.5s advantage over the third-placed Finn.
Neuville delivered an impressive performance over Saturday morning’s stages to lead Sebastien Ogier by 10.9s. However, the Belgian's rally unravelled when he hit a hole the road on stage nine that inflicted terminal damage to his suspension.
Having lost an opportunity to claim at least 25 points for the win, at an event where he headed a podium sweep for Hyundai last year, Neuville now accepts his title bid is over for another season.
The task to reel in Rovanpera now appears even more difficult with the Finn leading the rally at the end of Saturday after Ogier's exit following stage 12.
“Yeah for sure,” Neuville told Motorsport.com, when asked if his title hopes are over.
“The chances were not that big but still with the result we were doing here, and if we finished like this, we would have increased our chances a bit more. But it is what is.
“I felt [the victory] was possible but obviously luck was not with us this weekend, so we try to forget and look forward. I don’t know what has broken but something has broken.
“We will push as much as we can in the Power Stage but I think it will be for our own pleasure than anything else.”
Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
Hyundai boss Cyril Abiteboul described Neuville’s retirement as “painful” and is yet to understand exactly what failed on his i20 N.
“There were times in the season where we were competitive simply because our competitors were weak or facing a difficult situation, but on this occasion I think it was a straightforward win that was possible for us and in sight,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
“This was a combination of the car characteristic and the crew’s ability, and the hard work we put into the preparation. We also knew that this was an event where we can be strong.
“It is all the more painful when something like this happens. It is not due to lack of preparation, information or knowledge, we have, and they have all of that. Fate decided otherwise.
“We are yet to see exactly what part failed and the root cause of the failure. We need to be able to sustain those things [bumps in rallies], but we need to see the car to draw a conclusion.”
Read Also:
- WRC Greece: Rovanpera snatches lead after late Ogier drama
- Ogier explains luckless WRC Acropolis Rally exit
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ogier explains luckless WRC Acropolis Rally exit
Next article WRC Greece: Rovanpera closing on victory, Evans steals second
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tom Howard
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
WRC
WRC 5 h
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
WRC
WRC
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
More from
Thierry Neuville
WRC star Thierry Neuville makes successful historic circuit racing debut
WRC
WRC
WRC star Thierry Neuville makes successful historic circuit racing debut
What does the future hold for Thierry Neuville and Hyundai in WRC?
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
What does the future hold for Thierry Neuville and Hyundai in WRC?
Latest news
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 h
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
3 h
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe