Thierry Neuville does not intend to give up in Australia

In his tone, we felt that Thierry Neuville suffered somewhat after the first stage, when recounting his setbacks on SS6. The pilot Hyundai, vying for the 2018 crown against Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) and Ott Tänak (Toyota) lost big this Friday in Australia, with a puncture which made him lose contact with his main rival Sébastien Ogier.

“We were on a long right turn with a few bumps and upon landing a jump, the tire went off the rim, which made us waste a lot of time, explains the Belgian. We'll keep pushing and see where we end up on Sunday.

We can't give up our hopes despite what happened. It's still only the first day and although our championship chances are now reduced, we don't know what will happen over the next two days. »

“Thierry will also be the first on the road on Saturday, which will make his life even more difficult” also argues Michel Nandan, Team Principal of Hyundai Motorsport. In order to make things easier for Sébastien Ogier ahead of the second day, instructions had been given to the M-Sport clan, with Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen allowing their French leader to pass in the standings.

A complicated situation in the Drivers' championship which also puts Hyundai in difficulty against Toyota in the Manufacturers' standings, since in addition to the misfortunes of Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen made a mistake in SS3, after being distracted by the presence of a tractor at the edge of the special.