“I have never taken so many risks in my career and seeing that despite all the hazards I finished third two and a half seconds behind the winner brought tears to my eyes”. Thierry Neuville ended the Monte Carlo Rally in sixth place, a decidedly bitter result for the Belgian driver, fifth in the drivers’ standings thanks to the three points won in the Power Stage which allowed him to overtake Gus Greensmith, fifth in the general classification at the end of the Rally del Mountain. The budget at Hyundai is alarming. Ott Tanak and Oliver Solberg had to retire. The Estonian driver crashed into a rock in SS11 and was forced to retire once he reached the finish line of that special stage. The Swede instead threw in the towel on Sunday morning due to the smoke that continued to accumulate in the cockpit, a situation that the Hyundai team did not consider healthy by opting for the withdrawal of Solberg’s i20 # 2.
Neuville also had to face some technical problems that affected the whole day on Saturday and that relegated the Belgian to a place outside the top-5. The hybrid model designed by the Korean manufacturer al Monte has highlighted several youth problems with the Ford Puma and Toyota Yaris competitors. What worries Neuville the most, however, is thecompliance demonstrated by some decisions of Hyundai managers in the face of situations in which, in his opinion, more could be done. After all, Neuville himself set an example by putting a patch with his hands at the level of ‘repairs’ in the face of the problems recorded during a transfer on Saturday morning.
“It is disappointing to see that Oliver Solberg was unable to bring the car to the finish due to minor problems – said Neuville as reported by the newspaper dirtfish.com – it would have been important for the constructors’ championship. I don’t like seeing people throw in the towel so easily. I’m fighting with all my strength exactly like last year, where despite everything we were still fighting for the championship. I started 2022 with the same approach and it’s not nice to see that not everyone shares this attitude “. Solberg co-pilot Eliott Edmondson stressed that the decision to retire was also made in light of the fact that he and Oliver Solberg they didn’t feel very well.
#Neuville #tears #eyes #despair #FormulaPassionit