Neuville was leading the competition, where he has the chance to secure his first drivers’ world championship. However, on the last stage of the morning loop, the Hyundai star made a couple of mistakes, dropping him to fourth place in the tarmac rally.
First, Neuville spun and lost a few seconds. Moments later, the Belgian overshot a corner, driving into a field and getting stuck briefly in a ditch as he tried to get back onto the road.
Neuville eventually managed to continue, but in total, half a minute was lost.
“Two spins, two little mistakes. The first one, the braking was much more slippery than expected. We caught a bit of grass and there was a ditch. So we spinned around the car there was a ditch, and we spun the car around.”
“And the second one was just too optimistic pace note. It was a wide road and the pace was too fast. I realised it quickly, the grip was low, so we went into the field. But on the way out there was a little ditch only, but a steep angle. So we got a bit stuck in there,” Neuville explained after returning to midday service in Germany.
According to Neuville, the situation didn’t scare him too much, despite the high stakes in the competition. However, it did cost him valuable points.
“I knew that we would get out at some point, with the spectators or on our own, because the ditch wasn’t very deep. It was just the angle, how we approached it. And it was the only way out, where the ditch was not so deep.”
“I didn’t think so much. I just tried to get going again,” Neuville remarked.
Neuville is 33.6 seconds behind rally leader Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, with a 25-second gap to the final podium place. Neuville plans to play it safe in the afternoon loop, as the gap is too large to close.
Additionally, the first conditional points will be up for grabs on Saturday evening, and Neuville doesn’t want to risk losing them.
“Obviously this afternoon will be a little bit easier for us. There’s nobody to catch in the front. ‘Taka’ (Takamoto Katsuta) is also 30 seconds behind, so we need to manage those gaps. Get through and see what will be going on Sunday,” Neuville outlined.
On Saturday afternoon, the competition will repeat the same three-stage loop in Germany and Austria. On Sunday, there are still separate day-specific points and the additional points from the Power Stage up for grabs.
