Hello

Your subscription is almost coming to an end. Don’t miss out on the great content on Nation.Africa

Ready to continue your informative journey with us?

Hello

Your premium access has ended, but the best of Nation.Africa is still within reach. Renew now to unlock exclusive stories and in-depth features.

Reclaim your full access. Click below to renew.

It’s over for Thierry Neuville! Damaged suspension rules out Belgian

Fans follow the action at Kedong 1 stage in Naivasha during the 2023 WRC Safari Rally on June 23, 2023.

Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group

It’s over for Thierry Neuville!

Front-left suspension damage ruled the Belgian out of contention after he hit a hole 7.9km into the Sixth Stage (Geothermal 2).

Meanwhile, this is what the drivers said after the 19.17-kilometre Loldia 2 Stage (Temperature 22 degrees Celcius):    

Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen

When the stage was drying up it got much slippier. I think we made a small mistake on the set-up because we expected to have more grip in the afternoon. I had a lot of understeer all the time, we are going to lose some time there for sure.

Thierry Neuville/Martjin Wydaeghe

The feeling was good, the drive was good. The grip is very low I think, we are even slower than this morning, but generally the feeling was good.

Takamoto Kasuta/Aaron Johnston

A zebra came in front of me. Sorry to Zebra

Esapaka Lappi/Janne Ferm

It more slippery than in the morning which I was not expecting. In some corners at the beginning you have good grip then it becomes really bad.

Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveola

We managed to improve the suspension a bit, it feels a bit more comfortable now.

Sebastian Ogier/Vincent Landais

My strategy is a bit different. I tried to drive more clean and gain the performance from the tyres. It's only in the last stage hat the risk is very high.

Daniel Sordo/Candido Carrera

It was good. Much more slippery than before because it's getting dry. In the first corner we went wide, but anyway, I am quite happy.

Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicholas Gilsoul

Under braking, in the middle there was a big step and we broke the wheel there. He stopped 11.3km into the stage to change a wheel.

Jourdan Serderidis/Anndy Malfoy

I think the grip is better but it's loose in some parts. More or less, it's not so bad.