Thierry Neuville and his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were the crew to beat for much of Rally Monte Carlo. But an incident on Saturday’s final stage cost them a hard-fought 50-second lead.
The Belgians were determined to bounce back on the last day of the race. And they did so in style winning the final stage by 30 seconds. It took their total stage wins for the weekend to six, and offered some reward in what could have been a triumphant rally.
Thierry Neuville said:
“We had to put the disappointment of the incident behind us, and look to return to form and definitely did that. We wanted to push hard in the Power Stage and to pick up some points. When we could see the snow was falling, we knew it would be tricky but thankfully we did enough. It’s a consolation for what we missed out on that weekend.
“I would like to say thanks to the whole team for a super job. The i20 Coupe WRC is fantastic to drive and offers us genuine promise for the season. We can leave Monte-Carlo in a positive frame of mind and confident in what we can achieve against strong opposition.”
6 SS wins, a very good pace, a lot of fun driving the #i20CoupeWRC, some extra points & the promise of an incredible season! #NotABadWeekend pic.twitter.com/oLsLj2GPY5
— Thierry Neuville (@thierryneuville) 22 January 2017
