Thierry Neuville Neuville says that he did not expect the Stage 15 to be so dirty as he did not have the information for the situation of the stage in his pace notes even from his gravel crew.
The Belgian driver was leading his home event for 17,2 seconds from Ott Tanak at the end of Stage 14, but he was forced to retire in the following stage after the exit he had.
More specifically, he had understeer on a left-hander in Stage 15 due to thet fact that there was a lot of gravel on this corner resulting in sliding and ending up in a ditch.
Despite the fact that the spectators managed to get him off the ditch, he pulled over on an access road as his i20N had a damage in the front right suspension.
Finally, it must be mentioned that Neuville was getting close to secure his first win of the season at Ypres Rally which would be his second victory in a row in Belgium.
"A huge disappointment for the whole team and for all of our fans, who have been numerous on the stages all weekend", Neuville said.
"I came to a slow left-hand corner in SS15, on quite slippery tarmac, and it was full of dirt from the cars in front.
"There was nothing in our pace notes and we weren’t aware it could be that tricky.
"When the gravel crew passed through, it was still clean, so we were just caught by surprise.
"Nothing we could do, I just understeered into a ditch.
"The car didn’t have much damage but unfortunately, we couldn’t make it to the end and had to retire there.
"The target was clearly to get the victory, to give something back to the fans who have been an absolute joy this weekend".
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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