Thierry Neuville has admitted to being totally surprised by his accident on Friday at Rally Italy Sardinia.
Neuville had been leading the rally by 0.2 seconds over Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux after four stages, but retired on the fifth when he hit a rock on the left after a crest and broke his suspension.
Asked by DirtFish to explain what happened, Neuville said: “Sometimes pictures say more than words.
“I mean, I lost a little bit the front in the entry of a flat corner, went 10 centimeters wide, had to correct the line, the rear touched the stone on the outside and that was basically game over for us.”
The Telti – Calangianus – Berchidda stage that ended Neuville’s day was a challenge for plenty of others; Neuville was one of five Rally1 drivers to hit trouble on it.
“Yeah, I mean from the profile it’s a nice stage, it’s a challenging stage of course very narrow and the smallest mistakes in those situations can mean the off,” Neuville explained.
“Like I say, very unfortunate. We lost the front and the entry. We didn’t expect that, to be honest. I noted it’s a flat corner and that’s it. Obviously, it always feels harsh and tough to end up on a rally like this, but our last time we ended up like this was here in Sardinia last year, so that obviously doesn’t feel good on a rally where we were supposed to make a good result.”
Neuville badly needed a result to ignite his championship defense. There is still Super Sunday and the powerstage to play for, but he is extremely likely to see his 50-point deficit to the top grow after Sardinia.
“It’s not nice to be honest,” Neuville admitted. “We didn’t need that and our target was clear.
“I mean, I really was surprised. It came like a big surprise. I didn’t expect at all to lose the front. I mean, in a flat corner, it is what it is. What should have [been], but now it’s too late.”
Neuville is refusing to throw the towel in though.
“It’s not over, that’s for sure,” he vowed.
“It’s going to be very tough, but if there’s one thing we do it’s keep fighting, so we will.”
