Thierry Neuville rolled his Hyundai i20 heavily in shakedown at ADAC Rallye Deutschland. The Belgian was making his third pass through the 4.60km Konz stage when he crashed at a double left corner about 1.7km after the start.
A spokesperson for Hyundai Motorsport said Neuville rolled up to six times in a vineyard section of the stage, the car coming to rest off the road among the vines. Neither Neuville nor co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were injured.
The car has heavy panel damage on Gilsoul’s side but it is thought the vines may have absorbed some of the impact.
The i20 will be returned to the Trier service park where the team will try to repair it ahead of tomorrow’s opening leg. It is not necessary to have the car running for tonight’s start ceremony and both driver and co-driver can walk over the podium.
Jari-Matti Latvala was fastest as his Volkswagen team claimed a 1-2-3. The Finn went quickest on his fourth and final run in his Polo R, 0.5sec clear of championship leader Sébastien Ogier with Andreas Mikkelsen a further 0.6sec back.
Citroen’s Kris Meeke topped the times initially in his DS3 and the Northern Irishman finished fourth, 1.7sec behind Latvala. Dani Sordo, winner here in 2013, and Mikko Hirvonen completed the top six in a Hyundai i20 and Ford Fiesta RS respectively.
Robert Kubica was seventh, despite a slight handbrake problem.
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