Christian Loriaux, director of the rally program at Hyundai, is Belgian. And of course very affected by the problems suffered by Thierry Neuville on Friday morning at the Japan Rally. “However, I have my fingers crossed, because on Saturday (Editor's note: during the night from Friday to Saturday in Belgium), he should hit the road again with a completely overhauled car; his title chances remain intact. »
But what exactly happened?
It is the turbo control which is faulty: an electromechanical problem probably. We don't know any more at the moment, and we won't really know until he returns this evening (Editor's note: late Friday morning in Belgium) to the service park. To Thierry's misfortune, there was only limited assistance to two mechanics this Friday lunchtime. And they could only intervene with the stock of parts on board the car. As a result, they were neither able to investigate nor, above all, resolve the problem with the few parts made available to them.
Aren't you afraid the engine may have suffered from running “idling” this afternoon?
No. And everything should be back to normal this evening. I'm weighing my words a little, because it's always delicate, but as a result, we're going to change as many parts as possible, including the turbo, even if we unplugged it this afternoon and it didn't work. so not suffered. Once again, Thierry showed professionalism by not losing motivation and remaining focused. He did a great job bringing the car back.
