Neuville aims for a finish in Sardinia

Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Thierry Neuville has prioritised a finish on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna this week after failing to go the distance on the last round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Gran Canaria.

Belgian Neuville, 21, is contesting six rounds of the IRC this season in a Kronos Racing-run Peugeot 207 Super 2000 alongside co-driver Nicolas Klinger, from France.

Neuville said: “The team were delighted by my progress in the Canaries but for me it was missing something: I wasn’t there at the finish and I can’t make a habit of that.”

However, Neuville has admitted that his task in Sardinia will be even more difficult because he has extremely limited experience of gravel.

“It’s only going to be my fourth event on this surface,” added Neuville. “The only target I can realistically set myself is to make the finish. As my experience grows I hope to ‘drive’ the car more – anticipating every situation and sliding the car – in order to fulfil my objective as a rally driver while maintaining my key goal of just getting to the end.”

This year’s Rally d’Italia-Sardegna breaks with tradition by introducing a linear route between Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, in the south of the island and Olbia in the north. The event gets underway with a ceremonial start in Cagliari on Friday evening before two days of action on Saturday and Sunday.