Thierry Neuville: “It’s above all an emotional disappointment”

Can you explain what happened to you?

We were in a fight and I got surprised. I made a mistake by braking a bit too late approaching a right turn. When I dove into the rope, I locked the wheels. The rear went away instantly and we hit a concrete block. This put an end to the great race we were having. It's a huge disappointment, because we had dreamed of this victory. Since the start of the weekend, we have tried everything to succeed and I think that Martijn, myself and the whole team managed to manage the situation well. Above all, it is an emotional disappointment.

You weren't wrong when you said you were dreading this special?

Since the start of the race, I wasn't very comfortable in the car. I tried to compensate with knowledge of the terrain on the other times, but this one was new. I knew it would be one of the most difficult of the event. We had slowed down because things weren't going very well again and I was still surprised. The intermediate times show that we were slower than in the previous SS, dropping 1″5 over the first 3 kilometers.

In terms of the championship, there was a great result to be had. This means that we will have to digest and try to make up for this delay in Portugal?

Indeed, but we must not forget that we had a 9s lead and that victory was not yet achieved. We had to continue to fight and we could see that the Toyota has the advantage especially on asphalt. Ott Tänak had difficulty with this car, Esapekka Lappi also had difficulty and I managed as best I could. We had three superb rallies and there, by dint of being on the attack all the time and trying to compensate, we made mistakes.

Will we have to take advantage of an interesting starting order in Portugal?

This is indeed what we must do in the next two rounds at least where sweeping will play a big role. This is the only consolation we can take from this weekend.