apologized to Thierry Neuville and plans to “change everything” about his car after a suspected turbo problem dented his championship hopes.
NeuvilleWorld Cup leader can win the crown by adding six points on the final day of the season, but that prospect became complicated long after your i20 N has suffered a mysterious loss of power in the fourth stage on Friday.
With only a tire mounting area between the stage loops, Hyundai was unable to fix the problem, which it did moving Neuville from second to 15th positionapproximately 7'41''3 from his rival for the title, his teammate and rally leaderOtt Tanak.
Hyundai was surprised by this problem given its high reliability this year, since Neuville's only technical failure to date occurred in Kenya.
The director of the WRC program of the Korean brand, Christian Loriauxbelieves the problem is linked to the car's turbo after confirming that Neuville lost pressure in this fourth special. Also have confidence that the engine has not suffered any damage.
“In fact, Thierry had a new turbo for this event and the rest are more or less proven parts,” said Loriaulx. .
“We know that he lost boost pressure and we know that boost regulation relief valve does not work. Is it the electric coil or the box or the intermediate wiring? We don't know. “We will try to find out this evening and change everything to make sure we solve the problem,” he added.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo: McKlein / Motorsport Images
Loraiux was quick to apologize to Neuville before praising the way the Belgian handled the problem which came at the worst moment of the championship fight.
“We all fight for everything, so sometimes a driver makes a mistake, sometimes the team does too, but it's very frustrating. We've had good reliability this year,” he added. “It’s really a hard blow and very frustrating, because it puts us under pressure and in a very complicated situation and for that we would like to apologize to Thierry.”
“He was doing an incredible job for the team and we didn't expect him to be where he is today. Despite the problem, he reacted very professionally, stayed calm and brought the car back without losing his composure, which is admirable.” .
“I couldn't do it, I was hitting the steering wheel and yelling at everyone, but again we apologize. It's not over and we have to be positive and keep pushing.”
Neuville refused to blame the team for the problembut admitted it was “the worst thing that could have happened” this weekend.
“Of course [el equipo] You can apologize, but it won't change the situation,” he said. “It won't make me any happier. However, first we need to see what the problem is. I'm not sure we can say that the team is responsible for the problem. “We know such things happen in motorsport, but of course they have to make sure they fix the car for tomorrow.”
“It's obviously the worst thing that could happen to us this weekend. I would have preferred to have a puncture rather than lose seven minutes because of a technical problem, but it shows the advantage.” [de puntos] that we have accumulated throughout the year, these 25 points are crucial. Hopefully this hard work will pay off and we will be rewarded,” he added.
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo: McKlein / Motorsport Images
Tanak still not thinking about drivers' title
While the Neuville drama has increased Tanak's slim title chances, the 2019 world champion cannot yet allow himself to think about a second crown.
The Estonian produced a near-perfect drive to open up a lead of 20.9 seconds, but remained focused on maintaining the advantage. Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta And Sébastien Ogier of the Toyota trio) to help Hyundai win its first manufacturers' title since 2020.
“There’s nothing to think about,” Tanak said. “I can’t do anything different than what I do.”
“It has been very frustrating for the team because firstly this morning started very positively with Toyota suffering two punctures in the first stage and everything seemed under control and then sometimes you are surprised at how quickly things can change and without expecting it you are at your back.
“I had to fight with the Toyotas to stay ahead of them and protect the team. It’s still very difficult,” he concluded.
