It’s been a common theme for Thierry Neuville for several years now.
At times, he’s felt like he’s the only one hauling Hyundai into the World Rally Championship fight.
The same could easily be said for the recent Rally México. Dani Sordo wasn’t on the front-running pace, and although Esapekka Lappi was fighting for the lead on the first day, he threw it away with an almighty crash on Saturday morning.
It was mainly Neuville’s hard-fought second place finish that meant Hyundai walked away with a solid haul of points in the manufacturer’s championship.
So given Neuville’s previous concerns it would be natural to expect that he was left feeling frustrated by Lappi’s retirement.
But that wasn’t the case at all.
Lappi might not have completed the rally, but he’s quickly proven just how fast he is, and importantly, how much of a threat he can be to the likes of Toyota and M-Sport.
That encourages Neuville – but it was the fact that Lappi was prepared to go to the absolute limit at every given opportunity that impressed the Belgian the most.
“No, to be honest not at all,” was Neuville’s response when asked by DirtFish if he was frustrated by Lappi’s crash.
“I think he was doing a great job. The incident was really unlucky – it happens to all of us, some mistakes.
“But I can see he is willing to push for it and he is going to have some good results throughout the season.
“So I’m not worried at all.”
