Maiden win for Neuville in Germany as UAE’s Al Mutawaa crashes out

Sport360 staff 06:59 25/08/2014
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  • Unexpected victory: Thierry Neuville (r) and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul won their maiden world rally yesterday.

    Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville claimed a rags-to-riches first FIA World Rally Champion­ship victory in Germany yesterday, three days after virtually destroying his car when he rolled six times at the pre-event shakedown.

    In a chaotic final day at Rallye Deutschland, Neuville climbed from third after first Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala and then Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s Kris Meeke crashed out of the lead.

    The win on this ninth round of the WRC was the first for Hyundai in its comeback year in the series. Dani Sordo put the icing on the cake by finishing second for the Korean manufacturer, both driving the i20 WRC.

    Twelve months ago, Neuville came close to victory in Germany as he and Sordo fought a final stage duel when driving for different teams. Sordo won on that occasion to secure his first win when Neu­ville slid off just before the finish.

    Neuville’s story began on Thurs­day morning when he barrel-rolled through the vineyards near Trier. Team mechanics worked for 18 hours to rebuild the battered i20 and Neuville repaid them in style, becoming only the second Belgian to win a world rally and the first since François Duval in 2005.

    “I think we did an unbelievable job during all three days of the rally and I can only say thank you to our team,” he said.

    “They did a fantastic job after our roll on shakedown and I couldn’t believe we could do such a good re­sult. We put pressure on the others and it paid off.”

    Latvala, chasing his first asphalt win to reignite his title bid, was al­most a minute clear when he start­ed the first of the final four stages.

    However, he crashed his Polo R in treacherously slippery conditions, handing Meeke an 8.4sec advantage over Neuville. But the Irishman hit a wall early in the next test after a pacenote error, ripping the left rear wheel from his Citroen DS3.

    Neuville, who admitted drop­ping two wheels into a ditch on the opening stage, was in the clear and finished 40.7sec ahead of Sordo.

    Andreas Mikkelsen survived a spin where Latvala crashed to take third in a Polo R, 17.3sec fur­ther back. Elfyn Evans excelled on his debut asphalt event in a World Rally Car, matching a career-best fourth place after outgunning more experienced Ford Fiesta RS team-mate at M-Sport Mikko Hirvonen by 6.9sec.

    Mads Ostberg was sixth, admit­ting he failed to get the best out of his Citroen DS3, with Martin Prokop and Dennis Kuipers in seventh and eighth. WRC 2 winner Pontus Tidemand finished ninth with Ott Tanak completing the lea­derboard.

    Robert Kubica retired before the opening stage when the gearbox in his Fiesta RS jammed in third as he warmed his tyres while Bryan Bouffier crashed his i20 early in the final test.

    Despite retiring after two crashes, Sebastien Ogier retains a 44-point lead over Latvala in the standings. Although a wretched weekend meant it failed to clinch the manufacturers’ title, the results guarantee a Volkswagen driver – Ogier, Latvala or Mikkelsen – will win the drivers’ crown. 

    Al Mutawaa looks at the positives after crash

    Despite the disappointment of crashing out on the final morning of Rallye Deutschland yesterday, Abu Dhabi Racing Junior Driver Mo­hamed Al Mutawaa says his WRC 3 debut was a huge learning curve and that the experience would stand him in good stead at future events.

    It was a mixed three days for the Abu Dhabi driver who lost a good 10 minutes on day one after going off and sliding to the bottom of the standings.

    Al Mutawaa, however, came back strongly on Saturday and started the final morning eighth overall in class. His inexperience though soon became evident when, in his haste to push to the limit, he crashed his Citroen DS3 R3T on the second of four stages yesterday.

    Al Mutawaa said: “I was pushing a bit extra in order to test the limits in damp conditions. I lost control and went off the stage and was un­able to get back.

    “Nevertheless, this has been a huge learning curve for me and great experience in different con­ditions – dry and wet – and it will surely serve me well in the future.

    “Rally Germany was not easy and I learnt a lot from my mistakes. Day two’s long stage, the SS10, was a great test of my fitness.

    “Some of my split times were faster than the top drivers in my class.”

    Al Mutawaa says he is now look­ing forward to his next event, Rally de Espana, from October 23-25 where he hopes for better results and gain more experience.

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