Thierry Neuville says that he does not accuse Martijn Wydaeghe for their near miss in Stage 18 of Croatia Rally and admits that mistakes can happen from both sides.
Neuville and Wydaeghe were leading Croatia Rally from Stage 1 to 17, but the crew did a mistake due to a pacenote after a jump resulting in hitting a branch in Stage 18. They completed SS18 without a rear wing which means that their i20N was not stable and it was difficult for Neuville to find the grip which comes from the downforce. After their incident, the Belgians dropped from first to third overall and lost the chance to take their second win of the season while they scored only one point on Sunday as they were seventh on SuperSunday standings. However, the most important is that they manage to complete the rally and to secure the 18 points from Saturday as they were at the top of the classification at the end of that day, but they were not fast enough to take some points from the Powerstage. After the end of the fourth WRC round, Neuville and Wydaeghe are still leading the championship and are ahead of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin for six points.
"Mistakes happen, whether it’s the driver or the co-driver", Neuville said.
"It was a tricky situation.
"The note came a little bit late and there was nothing I could do.
"That’s part of the job.
"Of course, the frustration was really high immediately, but in the end, I don’t point the finger on somebody.
"I do mistakes and co-drivers can do mistakes.
"They had a very tough job last weekend, like on all Tarmac events.
"It’s very challenging for them, lots of information, especially here on a high-speed event with compressions, crests and so on.
"A mistake is quickly done.
"I mean, mistakes happen here and there, but most of the time, there’s time to react.
"But there, it wasn’t.
"We paid the price, but I always say we have two in the car.
"I don’t want to blame anyone.
"It’s just what happened".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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