Thierry Neuville explains why he was out of pace during Rally de Portugal saying that he chose to have a different set-up compared to his teammates, but this will not happen in Sardinia hinting that all the Hyundai cars will have the same settings.
The Belgian driver finished fifth overall in Portugal earlier this month and lost two places on the final day of the rally due to a turbo issue. However, he was struggling to find pace with his i20N in comparison with his teammates and this can be proved by the fact that he did not set a fastest time on any stage of this gravel event. More specifically, it was difficult for him to keep his car on the line as the rear was moving a lot and had a lot of wheelspin. After the fifth round of this year's championship, he is in fifth place on the drivers' championship with 68 points, 30 points behind the leader Kalle Rovanpera.
"Sardinia presents a lot of challenges, but the biggest are the heat and tyre wear", Neuville said.
"The stages are also difficult as the surface is rough, and they are quite narrow and technical too, so there is not much room for mistakes.
"Our target is to deal with the conditions as best we can and fight hard for a good result.
"Portugal was a tough weekend for us.
"I had a different set-up from Dani and Esapekka which we think is one of the reasons why I was struggling with traction and car balance.
"Switching my car to similar settings to those of my team-mates should be beneficial in the quest for improved performance and I'm looking forward to putting this to the test".
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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