Thierry Neuville returns home from the Croatian Rally with a strong internal disappointment, but not all evil has a silver lining. After having won 9 out of 16 races between Friday and Saturday, and also having closed the second stage as leader of the event, something happened during SS18 that led him to crash into a tree.
In the impact, his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 suffered bodywork damage on the right side but, more importantly, he literally lost his rear wing. The accident caused him to lose the lead of the event, dropping him to third place. But the lack of the rear wing precluded him from trying to recover (Evans was 1″1 behind him) and make amends for his mistake.
“For sure there is some frustration, but on the other hand we were well rewarded yesterday after our great riding on Friday and Saturday [per segnare 18 punti]; they were important points and they made the difference,” Neuville told Motorsport.com.
“Although we didn't score many points today we were still the third best result, tied with Evans, and only lost one point to Ott [Tanak]. We can't say it was a disaster.”
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo credit: McKlein / Motorsport Images
The Belgian then explained what the mistake was that led him to go off the road during SS18. In fact it was a delay on the part of Martijn Wydaeghe in dictating the note. When this was pronounced, Neuville no longer had any opportunity to correct the car sufficiently to avoid the impact.
“The stage [in cui siamo usciti] it was really difficult, but what happened, happened. I tried to do my best to avoid it, but we were too late and when I got the note I braked immediately, but the curve was much tighter and I couldn't do anything.”
“The car was undriveable without the rear wing, I couldn't have expected it, but it was a disaster. In the last stage I was driving fast and I lost 30 seconds.”
At the end of the Power Stage, after the usual handshake between the two, Wydaeghe lowered his visor in front of his eyes, also hiding himself with his hands. A clear gesture of disappointment for the mistake made in SS18. Neuville, however, immediately exonerated his navigator: “Navigators make mistakes, pilots make mistakes. It happened and we can no longer change what has already happened. Let's move forward”.
While happy to lead the championship, Neuville expects a tough battle to maintain his lead when the WRC returns to clay, starting in Portugal next month.
“I'm happy to still be in the lead and to at least maintain our lead, because it's no secret that from Portugal onwards it will be tough for us with several gravel rallies in a row,” he added.
“Without really heavy rain or different circumstances, it will be difficult for us to score a lot of points on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday could be a little better if we have better road position.”
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