Lack of gravel running a concern for Neuville

Thierry Neuville fears his lack of gravel experience will count against him when the Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes on RACMSA Rally of Scotland from this Friday (7 October).

Neuville moved back into IRC title contention with a standout victory on the all-asphalt Rallye Sanremo last month. However, the Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg driver says he is unlikely to be in the thick of the fight for honours when the event finishes in Perth on Sunday afternoon.

“My experience on gravel is quite little, I didn’t do so many times with four-wheel-drive on gravel,” said Neuville, whose Peugeot 207 Super 2000 is co-driven by fellow Belgian Nicolas Gilsoul. “In fact, Scotland will only be the third loose-surface rally of my career in a four-wheel drive car. I don’t know for the moment but Sanremo was the last rally where I knew we could really fight for the victory. We have moved on from Sanremo and I can’t really see myself challenging for the lead. I will focus on being as consistent as possible in order to come away with a strong result.”

Neuville’s last appearance in the IRC on gravel was on RACMSA Rally of Scotland last season (pictured). He crashed into retirement on the second day of the event. He prepared for the event with a two-day test just south of Scotland’s border with England last month and was also due to test again this week.

After nine rounds Neuville is joint second in the IRC drivers’ standings.