With the ink on his renewed Hyundai Motorsport contract barely dry, the Belgian stepped aboard an i20 World Rally Car to score a commanding win over Ole Christian Veiby at the wheel of a similar car.
The Norwegian’s 2C Compétition-run i20 was 42sec behind Neuville after 92km of competition on the island of Sicily.
He has finished on the podium at all seven, including third place on all three FIA World Rally Championship rounds to date. He sits second in the championship race, eight points adrift of Sébastien Ogier ahead of next week’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal (20 – 23 May).
“It was mission accomplished [at Targa Florio],” Neuville said, “and a good job done by the Hyundai Motorsport team. We want both [WRC] titles this year and we are working for it.”
Veiby was similarly happy with his performance. Back in an i20 World Rally Car for the first time since crashing out of ACI Monza Rally in December, the 24-year-old said: “Amazing to be back in the i20 Coupe WRC. Enjoyed the asphalt stages and even without testing we managed to be only 0.5sec per kilometre behind Thierry Neuville overall.”
In the main Targa Florio Rally, Hyundai Motorsport colleague Craig Breen (pictured below) came within 2.4sec of what would have been a dream result for the Irishman.
Unfortunately for Breen, who had Belgian Louis Louka as co-driver for the first time, a technical issue in his i20 R5 cost vital seconds in the closing stages and he had to settle for second.
Breen’s co-driver, Garerth Roberts, died in a crash at the 2012 Targa Florio and last weekend was Breen’s first time back on the island.
“From the sporting side, I have to say a very big thank you to the team for making this weekend happen,” said Breen. “But from a personal side, it hurts. I really tried [to win]. I have left my trophy [at Roberts’ memorial], but made sure there is room for the winner’s trophy when I come back.”