Thierry Neuville expresses the fear he felt when his car was on fire before the regroup at Rally Spain as the engine could not start and he was not sure if he would make it to the last stage of the event.
The Belgian driver was the winner of Rally Spain, but he almost was forced to retire from that event before the Powerstage.
Specifically, he reached at the end of the penultimate stage of Rally Spain and he was going to the regroup after this stage, but when he arrived at the regroup zone his i20 got fire in the rear and flames were coming from the exhaust.
Martijn Wydaeghe, Neuville's co-driver, was pushing their i20 to the regroup with the intention of restarting the engine.
The engine restarted eventually and they managed to compete in Powerstage finishing their rally in first position overall.
"When the problem appeared we were luckily close to the TC of the regroup and we were able to push the car in the last few seconds to the control but after that there was a lot of hesitation to know if the car is going to restart or not", Neuville told DirtFish.
"Luckily it did and we were able to continue.
"I mean it was a perfect weekend until then and it’s bittersweet now with the problem we had at the end.
"Let’s try to take the global event in itself and we were competitive, we had a good car and I think what we have to remember, especially for Martijn and myself, the sensation we took from the car this weekend was incredible.
"Literally the car was on fire.
"We were making some flames but it is a problem that we have faced several times this season and it is not solved yet.
"Sometimes the car just refused to start.
"With a bit of luck at some point it is going to start again or not.
"Then, the only way is to push the car".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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