Neuville reached the podium at the Safari Rally for the first time, finishing third in the iconic event.
The result was at least satisfying for the Belgian, who suffered technical issues and even sunstroke during the weekend. But Neuville overcame the challenges.
“Now we can breathe. It was a very stressful day today (Sunday), because you are always thinking something could break,” Neuville sighed to RallyJournal.com.
“We got rewarded for that hard work on Friday and Saturday. We did an enormous job between the stages – me and Martijn (co-driver Wydaeghe) fixing the car and trying to get it going. The team also had a massive job to fix it at every service,” the Belgian thanked.
Saturday in particular was a painful day for Neuville. The repair work they did on road sections the day before led to both him and Wydaeghe suffering from sunstroke and dehydration. As a result, Neuville spent the entire night before Saturday in the bathroom, unable to sleep.
“We didn’t give up. Everything was looking bad Saturday morning. But we just refused to give up, and that paid off,” Neuville said happily.
The Safari Rally once again showed its unforgiving nature – this time perhaps even more than in previous years. Conditions ranged from dry and rocky roads to Saturday’s heavy rain, which turned the stages slippery and muddy.
“Safari this year was, I think, more extreme than anything else I’ve seen so far, to be honest. Conditions were crazy. It was very tough for the cars out there. Sometimes maybe a little bit too tough, but we still learned from it.”
Hyundai had its share of struggles in the rally, but so did its biggest rival Toyota. Elfyn Evans once again secured victory for the Japanese manufacturer, but Kalle Rovanperä’s rally ended early due to a technical problem. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, on the other hand, rolled his car on the final stage and was forced to retire after the last special stage.
“Obviously, we still have things to improve after four years of experience. But we saw that also Toyota wasn’t faultless this weekend. So that’s at least a good sign,” Neuville remarked, taking a jab at the rival team.
