Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe have been handed a €10,000 fine after Rally de Portugal.
The Hyundai crew was summoned to the Stewards’ office post-event before it was determined that, “The crew of car No.11 did not submit their Time Card at the Stop Control of SS 17”.
The fine must be paid “jointing and severally by the driver and co-driver” with 48 hours, as per Article 12.8 of the 2023 FIA International Sporting Code.
The fine capped off a torrid Rally de Portugal for the Belgian duo, which Neuville admits was “a weekend to forget” for him and the entire Hyundai Motorsport team after turbo trouble robbed him of a top-three finish.
Neuville started the Sunday leg of the gravel event third overall – 11.1s behind team-mate Esapekka Lappi having traded places with the Finn midway through Saturday despite well-documented, on-going ride and handling issues.
However, a broken turbocharger left the Belgian’s i20 N Rally1 severely down on power from the word go on Sunday and, as a result, M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak was given a free hand to move past and claim the extra Championship points.
The problem piqued barely seconds into the opening ‘Paredes’ test and cost Neuville a total of seven minutes in lost time as well as the chance to score points on the rally ending Power Stage in what would have been a boost to his title credentials.
It did not deny the Alzenau-based squad the chance to make it a second double podium of the current campaign, however, as Dani Sordo came home in second and Esapekka Lappi third.
“In short, this is what rallying is all about – full of ups and downs,” said Neuville, who slips to fifth in the title race on 68 points – 30 behind new leader and Rally de Portugal winner, Kalle Rovanpera.
“It is one of the most cruel motorsports, if not sports, in the world. We have to face situations like this sometimes, but it is never easy. Martijn [Wydaeghe] and I put a lot of energy and effort in but we go home with very little points.
“It is not the result we were looking for, so we’re very disappointed about that. Rallying is never over until it’s over, and we paid the price today.”
He added: “A weekend to forget; let’s see what we can do in Sardinia.”
As Neuville arrived at the overnight service halt on Saturday evening, thick smoke was spotted coming from the car’s exhaust. However, it is believed the failing component – in this instance the turbocharger – was not replaced as it should have been.
In his post-rally remarks, team boss Cyril Abiteboul admitted the matter would need to be explored at length internally in the cold light of day.
“We are glad to finally make it to the end of this rally, which was certainly a tough one. Portugal has once again delivered a lot of drama and various challenges,” said Abiteboul.
“For a large part of the weekend, we had three cars competing in the top five, which was good as we know something can always happen here. Unfortunately, this morning, it did with Thierry who lost precious points due to reliability issues, and that needs to be investigated further.”
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