The Neuville splash and grab that ends Hyundai’s WRC win drought

Amid the chaos and carnage of an unusually wet and wild Rally Sardinia, Thierry Neuville timed his charge perfectly to lead a Hyundai 1-2 and revive his World Rally Championship title bid. Here’s how he pulled it off, but why Kalle Rovanpera holds the key advantage after navigating the choppy Italian waters

Tom Howard Jun 5, 2023, 12:30 PM

Upd: Jun 5, 2023, 1:43 PM

Sardinia is renowned as a brutal event at the best of times. But unseasonable rain creating a European homage to the Safari Rally once again outlined why World Rally Championship drivers are among the elite in global motorsport.

Surviving the gruelling 19 gravel stages was achievement in itself. The task was made even more challenging by organisers, who increased the event’s difficulty by adding a brand new test in addition to extending the famous Monte Lerno stage to a whopping 31 miles, to celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary.

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Author Tom Howard

Tom Howard is a News Editor working across both Autosport.com and Motorsport.com websites. Starting out as a sports reporter in local newspapers, Tom focussed on motorsport covering several national championships in the UK, including the BTCC.

After a period working as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Australia in 2013 landing a job at leading Australian motorsport news outlet speedcafe.com, covering international motorsport events including F1, WRC and Supercars. Progressing to Editor in 2017, Tom was named Motorsport Australia Journalist of the Year for his work. He is also a two-time winner of Supercars Journalist of The Year (2017,2019) and a Supercars Championship Media Award winner in 2019.

Tom moved back to his native UK in 2020, firstly working in BTCC, before joining Autosport and motorsport.com in 2021.