Spanish motoring journalist Iván Fernández has published a piece on his Spanish language website with an analysis of the latest WRC goings-on. My Spanish isn't terribly good, so apologies in advance for the translation that follows, but it's an interesting read despite my clumsy attempt at converting his thoughts into English. Here it is, as near as I can understand it...
Hyundai sets the record straight about Thierry Neuville
It seems some time ago that rumors of discord between Thierry Neuville and the Hyundai WRC team faded. And despite the fact that he doesn't yet enjoy a fully competitive car with which to battle for victory on every rally, the Belgian can't complain too loudly following his own performances in recent events. Not just through the kind of mishaps he suffered during the shakedown in Finland, but also in terms of pure speed.
And if direct comparison with Hayden Paddon is not doing Dani Sordo any favours - a good example being management's decision to relegate the Spaniard to the second team in the upcoming Rally of Australia - it's not helping Neuville either. He's been shown to be a step behind the New Zealander on rallies where experience is crucial, including Sardinia, Poland (and even Finland, up to the point where Hayden had his accident).
Without doubt, it's been noted that Paddon's confidence has grown with the arrival of rallies he's previously undertaken in 2014 with the team, while Thierry, the 'great white hope' if we make a comparison to football, seems to find himself at a lower point on a graph that usually has many more peaks. However, Neuville remains classified as Hyundai's best driver, something that for Hyundai's Alain Penasse doesn't seem acceptable - more so if we look at [Paddon's] two podiums, Sweden and Sardinia, that feature in his performance this season.
To quote Penasse himself...
"Since the Rally of Argentina we haven't been happy with the performances of Thierry Neuville. Especially when compared with Hayden Paddon, Thierry has not achieved what we expect of him. After evaluating the data, we know the problem is with the driver. Maybe this could enable him to refocus and concentrate on his rallying in the WRC."
As this is written, the WRC crews are asleep in the early hours of Day 1 of Rallye Deutschland. In a couple of hours, they'll be awaking to the heady business of tackling the tricky tarmac stages in this iconic WRC event, one that ironically, Thierry Neuville won just a year ago. It'll be interesting to watch how he fares this year. He needs a good result in Germany.
http://www.diariomotor.com/competicion/2015/08/20/hyundai-pone-los-puntos-sobre-las-ies-a-thierry-neuville/#
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