Thierry Neuville has explained the two different electrical issues that cost him time on the opening morning of Rally Sweden, which nearly made him late for stage three.
Neuville was 12.6 seconds off the pace on stage two and initially commented at the end of Kamsjön that his battery pack was not working.
At midday service he confirmed there had indeed been an issue with the hybrid kit fitted to his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, though he very nearly turned up late to the next stage as another, separate electrical issue struck.
“Basically, we lost the e-kit at the start of the [second] stage and so I had no additional power,” explained Neuville.
“After the stage as well I got another technical issue, electrical issue, which I had to fix for the upcoming stage, to be able to engage the boost on the car before that last stage.
“We got it done just 10 seconds before entering the TC [time control]. So that was very stressful and I was really relieved to be at the end.”
There was more drama for Hyundai as Ott Tänak lost his front bumper on stage three, affecting the aero on his car in the fastest section of Sävar.
“Just the second stage, probably we damage the bit the bumper and then on the last stage we lost the bumper. The second part of the stage was very fast so there obviously was a bit tricky,” said Tänak.
Gus Greensmith also suffered without hybrid boost on his Ford Puma Rally1 on the third stage, though he was equally afflicted by a gearbox issue slowing him down further.
“Out of the second stage we had a gearbox problem which then in turn, we think, has knocked off the hybrid as well,” Greensmith explained.
“We go again [this afternoon].”
