Thierry Neuville has beforehand conquered the Monte Carlo Rally twice, however a elementary insecurity to push his Hyundai to the restrict left the 2024 world champion on the again foot.
Neuville had flagged even earlier than final weekend’s season opener that he could be “mendacity a bit” if he stated he felt assured behind the wheel of his up to date Hyundai, admitting he was lacking the sensation he used to should “assault”.
The Hyundai driver’s efficiency final weekend supplied little to alter that viewpoint. Neuville, victorious in Monte Carlo in 2020 and 2024, finally ended the weekend ending fifth – 10m29.8s behind eventual winner Toyota’s Oliver Solberg.
Neuville had run as excessive as fourth earlier than sliding off the highway and right into a ditch in stage 9, which price three minutes. Extra time was misplaced to a spin within the horrendous snow and icy situation in stage 12, whereas one other two and a half minutes had been dropped to a puncture in stage 15. This got here after struggling a driveshaft and suspension failure in shakedown.
The working theme via the occasion was that Neuville merely couldn’t discover the sensation with the automobile and the Hankook tyres to push within the worst situations the occasion had witnessed in additional than a decade.
Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Workforce Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photograph by: Hyundai
“I stated earlier than the occasion that I don’t really feel very assured within the automobile but, and there may be nonetheless work to do and that’s my largest concern in the intervening time, larger than automobile efficiency,” stated Neuville.
“I do know that once we can push we can be nearer, however it’s simply not attainable to push particularly in these tough situations.
“For me, personally it was essentially the most tough [Monte Carlo I have done] and by way of situations, we’ve seen a little bit of all the pieces. Truthfully, not having the sensation made it far more tough than what it may have been. I had acquired no management and I misplaced management many instances. The one goal in the intervening time was to not lose any wheel on the automobile and generally it was shut. It was not very pleasurable.
“We’ve got seen the pattern from the entire of final season, so I don’t assume it’s only Monaco-related however for certain it’s associated to when the situations are tougher.”
Hyundai’s weak point from final season was its efficiency on asphalt and most notably in changeable grip situations. It has led the crew to make enhancements to the entrance finish of its automobile in bid to widen the i20 N’s working window and make it extra predictable for its driver.
Neuville believes enhancements had been made with the automobile through the occasion, however there may be extra work to do. The Belgian is, nevertheless, feeling far more assured behind the wheel when the championship returns to pure snow in Sweden and gravel occasions.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Workforce Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photograph by: Hyundai
“We’ve got made some enhancements for certain. Like I stated, if the sensation is there and I get it working higher with these tyres, and once we are in a position to push then we can be a lot nearer than what we’re in the intervening time,” he added.
“We all know that on gravel we’re usually feeling far more snug within the automobile. The Toyotas can be sturdy there isn’t any doubt and they’re all the time sturdy they usually have proven final yr how they stepped up and let’s see what we are able to do. Typically, in Sweden and Finland final yr we had some tempo and hopefully we are able to do some work within the Sweden take a look at to be quicker than what we had been final yr.”
Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley admitted Neuville’s points in Monte Carlo are a priority to the crew, however feels they’re rally particular.
“For us, it was a problem and it was tough. We knew Monte could be tough, however this was not the Monte we had been anticipating,” he stated.
“We did a whole lot of testing for the rally, and I’ve to say we didn’t take a look at in fairly as excessive situations as we had been anticipating right here.
“I feel it [Neuville’s lack of feeling] is a priority, however it’s essentially this rally. If you have a look at the splits and also you begin drilling into the splits, the small bits on constant situations we’re a lot nearer to the place we have to be.
“We made an inexpensive selection with [team-mate] Adrien [Fourmaux] on the tyres to ensure we may maximise the efficiency on Sunday and, to be honest, he had an honest run and the Energy Stage [and] might be the place we’re, third, fifth is about the place our efficiency is. We aren’t so far-off.”
Fourmaux fared barely higher than Neuville in Monte Carlo, claiming two stage wins on his strategy to fourth general. Though, the Frenchman pinpointed the place Hyundai struggled in contrast with Toyota.
“Once we had one thing to struggle for and we go for it, we will be aggressive. However it’s true when there have been no cuts, no mud and simply snow, flat highway and tarmac on Sunday, the automobile is performing,” stated Fourmaux.
“It was working in Japan and dealing in Central Europe final yr when it’s flat and clear and as quickly because it turns into bumpy or totally different grip ranges then we’re much more in bother. I’ve seen when the Toyota takes a reduce the automobile stays actually steady in a single line, whereas for us the automobile actually makes some snap oversteer and is kind of unstable, so we have to work on that.”
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