Neuville: “We couldn’t keep up with the Fords”

Thierry Neuville will have the advantage of running behind Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) To Rally from Australia where sweeping is a very important phenomenon, but the pilot Hyundai will have to catch up with his French rival for the title who is now ahead of him by 3 points before the last event of the 2018 season of WRC.

The Belgian was in the fight for the podium at the start of the final stage of the Rally de Catalunya before losing precious seconds by breaking his rim in the Power Stage, ultimately falling half a second behind Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) without earn bonus points.

“It was an intense and completely crazy rally which sums up the level of competition in the championship, comments Thierry Neuville. I'm obviously disappointed not to have been able to finish on the podium and score additional points in the Power Stage. We were not successful, there was a stone on the road that I could not avoid and which damaged the right rear rim. »

“We took risks to catch the drivers at the front the day before, but we were not able to follow the Fords as we wanted in the last stage, adds the Belgian. The fight for the title remains completely open in Australia, whether at Driver or Manufacturer level, which is superb publicity for the WRC. We won the rally from second on the road last year and anything is possible. »

Hyundai nevertheless has the satisfaction of returning to 12 points from Toyota before the final round of the season held on the weekend of November 18.

“It was a very intense rally for all the manufacturers and most of the crews, notes Michel Nandan, Hyundai Team Principal. The level was incredible and the results were only revealed at the end of the Power Stage, which provided an exciting finale for the public. We are obviously disappointed with Neuville's missed podium because of this broken rim. It would have rewarded an incredible comeback after his difficulties on Friday, but these things happen. With Dani (Sordo) 5th place, we were able to get back on Toyota. The fight will therefore continue until the end. »

Andreas Mikkelsen, on the other hand, lacked pace throughout the weekend and was only able to take 10th place, almost 3 minutes behind the winner Sébastien Loeb (Citroen).

Discover the analysis of the Rally of Catalonia carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2189 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.