WRC Finland 2026: Thierry Neuville Loses Victory Hopes

Thierry Neuville suffered a major setback at WRC Finland 2026 on Friday, July 31, 2026, after a mistake on the Hohko stage cost him almost two minutes and dropped him out of the leading fight.

The Hyundai Motorsport driver had made a strong start to the rally in Finland. After four special stages, Neuville was running fourth overall and sat just 5.8 seconds behind rally leader Sebastien Ogier.

The problem came on the final stage of Friday morning’s loop. Neuville carried too much speed into a high-speed left-hander that proved tighter than expected, lost control and put one wheel into a ditch.

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The impact damaged the front suspension of his Hyundai and cost Neuville almost two minutes. Repairs on the following road section also delayed him enough to reach the next time control late, resulting in an additional 20-second penalty.

“Unfortunately, I made a small mistake on the final stage of the morning. I carried a bit too much speed into a flat-out left-hand corner. It was tighter than we expected,” Neuville said.

“The pace notes were new, the stage was new, and I lost control slightly. I was then late for the next corner and had to put a wheel into the ditch. Unfortunately, we hit something and damaged the front suspension. That cost us a lot of time,” he added.

After five stages on July 31, 2026, Neuville had dropped to 19th overall, more than two minutes behind the lead. The setback effectively ended his chances of fighting for victory, although a recovery into the points-paying positions remained possible.

“Most of our opportunities are gone. We were in the fight for the win, but now we have to fight back and see what is still possible to achieve,” Neuville said.