The Latest Breaking News from Thierry Neuville

No matter what the business, if you stand still and fail to innovate as markets change there is a risk of being left behind and the prospect of not achieving the potential. This is the crux of Thierry Neuville’s comments made in the lead up to Rally Portugal. The Hyundai…

The move arrives following Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville’s comments prior to last weekend’s Rally Portugal where he called for the WRC to “react” after stating that rallying’s top tier is at a critical point and requires change to appeal to fans and attract new manufacturers.

The Toyota driver started the day with a 10.8s advantage but a stunning drive to sweep the trio of stages allowed the Finn to open up a 52.4s lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.

The Toyota driver started the day with a 10.8s advantage but a stunning drive resulted in the Finn to clean sweep the trio of stages to open up a 52.4s-lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.

The Toyota driver produced an head turning display despite being disadvantaged by road position to end the day leading Hyundai’s Dani Sordo by 10.8s. Rovanpera won three of the day’s eight stages to become the fourth different leader of the event to date.

Tanak produced an impressive showing in his M-Sport Ford Puma, winning one of the three morning stages to lead Toyota’s Rovanpera by 3.0s.

Evans arrives in Portugal sharing the championship lead with his part-time Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier after claiming an emotional first win for 18 months on Croatia's asphalt roads last month.

Rallying’s top flight has attempted to attract new marques in recent years, and this was one of the key objectives behind the introduction of its Rally1 hybrid regulations last year.

Portugal’s rough stages represents the start of the WRC’s gravel season with this round the first of seven consecutive rallies held on the loose surfaces.