There’s a degree of irony in the fact that Nicolas Gilsoul’s final competitive outing in a Hyundai was one where he blindfolded his driver Thierry Neuville and asked him to put his faith firmly in his direction.
Days later, Gilsoul walked away from the partnership and Neuville didn’t see it coming.
This story’s not about that. The demise of a nine-year partnership is discussed previously. This story’s about the reasons why Hyundai decided to blindfold its drivers in a demonstration of how well the relationship works in the car.
And, having set a time aboard the Hyundai i30 N with Martin Järveoja, Ott Tänak’s the man to explain everything.
What was it like?
“It was like driving blind.”
How did it feel?
“It was strange without seeing anything.”
How much could you trust Martin?
“It was big open area and very low speed, trust was not an issue there.”
Did you make many mistakes?
“I don’t know, I couldn’t see. But we did finish pretty quickly.”
Interestingly – and as you can see from the picture – Järveoja was offering his driver hand signals. Not of that much use when you can’t see the hand in front of your face.
Check out Tänak’s blindfolded run above, and Neuville and Sordo’s below:
