Thierry Neuville says that was not frustrated when he saw that Esapekka Lappi crashed in Mexico and believes that his teammate will deliver good results for Hyundai in 2023.
EP left from Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT and joined Hyundai Motorsport this year as the Koreans offered him a full-season programme. At Rallye Monte Carlo, he finished in eighth place overall as it was his first outing with the i20N Rally1 there and generally all Hyundai drivers struggled to find pace in Alps. In Sweden, he was fighting for the top positions as he was third, but he dropped further behind when he suffered from a puncture in Stage 13 which had as a result to have a spin and eventually to get stuck in a snowbank. However, he managed to complete the stage after seven minutes as the spectators helped him to get back on the road. The most spectacular thing is that he was leading Rally Mexico at the end of Friday over Sebastien Ogier, but unfortunately he had an accident on the opening stage of Saturday which led him to retire from the event due to the fact that the engine bay of his i20N caught fire. It is clear that Lappi has the pace to fight for a rally win despite the results he delivered so far and is currently eighth on drivers' championship, two points behind his teammate Dani Sordo.
"No, to be honest not at all", Neuville answered when he was asked by DirtFish if he was frustrated by Esapekka Lappi’s crash.
"I think he was doing a great job.
"The incident was really unlucky – it happens to all of us, some mistakes.
"But I can see he is willing to push for it and he is going to have some good results throughout the season.
"So I’m not worried at all".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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