Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville experienced a distressing event during his first run when a dog unexpectedly ran onto the road and was hit at high speed by his car. The Belgian driver expressed his regret at the end of the stage.
“I hope the weekend is going to be better than the first run. Unfortunately, we had a dog in the middle of the road, and I couldn’t avoid it. So it wasn’t a great opening,” Neuville lamented.
Neuville recorded the fifth-fastest time in the opening run. Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä set the fastest time, with Neuville trailing him by 2.5 seconds. The second-best time on the stage was clocked by Hyundai’s Spanish driver Dani Sordo, who was just 0.4 seconds behind Rovanperä.
“The shakedown didn’t start in the best way for us. The car isn’t 100%, but it’s nice to be back. I’m sure the guys will get it ready for the rally,” Rovanperä said.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta was third fastest in the opening run, 1.5 seconds behind his teammate Rovanperä. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak was fourth, ahead of Neuville and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.
The shakedown stage is still underway. Each Rally1 car is required to run the test stage at least three times.
Results from the shakedown opening runs:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 2:52.7 2. Dani Sordo Hyundai +0.4 3. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +1.5 4. Ott Tänak Hyundai +1.8 5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2.5 6. Elfyn Evans Toyota +3.2 7. Sebastien Ogier Toyota +3.4 8. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +4.7 9. Gus Greensmith Skoda +5.0 10. Oliver Solberg Skoda +5.8 11. Gregoire Munster Ford +5.9
