Neuville’s first words at the end of this morning’s SS1 were to thank his team. Indeed, had it not been for their efforts, he would have been a mere spectator today following the damage sustained to his i20 WRC in a frightening shakedown accident yesterday!
Rallye Deutschland’s stages demand millimetre precision, but images of the Belgian’s accident show that he turned into a corner a fraction too early. His car clipped a kerb and was launched into a series of rolls down the hillside through the vines. The violence even ripped off the passenger-side door.
Happily, the test was near Trier, so the team was able to recover the wreck quickly and bring it back to service. Visitors will recall that two WRC cars were excluded from the recent Rally Finland because of structural damage after crashes, and FIA observers soon arrived to inspect the Hyundai.
Happily, only a small section of the roll cage was damaged and, since this is a Hyundai-made component, the team was authorised to cut out the 20cm section and weld an intact tube in place. After that, if they could rebuild the chassis in time for Friday’s start, Neuville would be allowed to contest his ‘home’ event…
“Repairs started at around 2pm,” related a team spokesperson. “We changed everything. All the body panels, and even the roof was cut away and replaced. We decided not to change the engine, though.
“The mechanics dedicated to the N°7 car worked all night, initially with help from the N°8 team. We didn’t want everyone to miss sleep, so they were replaced by their N°20 colleagues when they arrived this morning. We also brought in someone who knows the car well but who had stayed behind at our headquarters in Alzenau, about 220km away.
“We didn’t rush the work. We preferred to take our time and do it properly, and the result was a practically new car when everything was completed at around 7:30am. Some of the Volkswagen mechanics came to watch the final phase and they spontaneously applauded when Thierry fired the car up and took it for a quick ‘systems check’ drive round the service park. That was very nice touch.
“When the co-driver’s door came off in the accident, Nicolas’s shakedown timecard and iPhone disappeared with it. I don’t think the timecard was retrieved and we spent all afternoon hunting for the phone. We sent out Twitter messages just in case anybody had seen it, but there was no response. Later, someone returned to the vineyard at night and dialled the number. By luck, they spotted the screen’s light through the leaves. All’s well that ends well!”
