FIA World Rally Championship - Rally Sweden - Stage 7 of Second Round - Torsby, Sweden - February 15, 2020. Thierry Neuville of Belgium (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) speaks to the media. TT News Agency/Micke Fransson/via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) - Hyundai's Thierry Neuville fought back into the points at the season-ending Rally Japan on Saturday to stand on the cusp of his first world championship.
The Belgian, who needs six points to clinch the title, started the day 15th after a turbo pressure problem but moved up to seventh place to secure four of the required tally provided he finishes on Sunday.
Team mate and closest championship rival Ott Tanak will lead the rally into Sunday's final leg, 38 seconds clear of Toyota's Elfyn Evans, as leaders Hyundai also closed in on the manufacturers' title.
Toyota's Sebastien Ogier was in third place.
"We’re satisfied that we’ve been able to catch seventh, which didn’t seem very realistic this morning," said Neuville.
"Of course, it could have been a much better weekend result, but I have faced many setbacks in my career and I have learnt to stay calm and deal with the situation.
"I think we managed that very well today, considering we had everything to lose while others had a lot to gain. It could be a big day tomorrow, but there is still a fight and we have to win some more points."
Tanak, the 2019 world champion, won the 13th and 16th stages while Neuville won stages 11 and 14 in the Aichi mountains near Nagoya.
Stage 12 was cancelled for security reasons after a van entered the course and blocked the road while Evans was waiting to start and after six cars had posted times. Police attended the scene and escorted the vehicle away.
"We've had this situation before here, which is challenging," the website quoted FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley as saying, calling the breach "very serious".
"Clearly, what's been done in the past has not been good enough and we need to find solutions to go forward. There is no excuse for this."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
