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Hyundai's Thierry Neuville owes his Rally Mexico podium to a large size bottle of beer.
Neuville and his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul finished in third place Sunday but realized that the radiator of the i20 was pierced.
When the leak drained his car's cooling system on the 33km journey back to service, the beer came to his rescue.
“We had driven maybe three or four kilometers of the road section when I saw the engine temperature was very high, that's when I realized we had a problem. It was very stressful,” Neuville told wrc.com.
Neuville and Gilsoul pulled over and removed the i20's front bumper to get better access while they plugged the hole.
“We were able to fix it quite quickly but to refill the system we made use of everything we had in the car, luckily we got some beer at the end of the Power Stage and we used it.”
The pair stopped again a few kilometers later to top-up the system with more Mexican lager.
“I really tried to stay calm and say to myself we were okay, but when we had more than 25km to go I thought okay, maybe this could be the end. But after we stopped again the temperature came down and then I thought it would be okay.”
Their next stop was when they arrived, on time, at the finish to collect Hyundai's first podium on only the team's third rally. So would Neuville be breaking his self-imposed alcohol-ban tonight? “For the moment, no, but I can change my mind at any time,” he laughed.
Neuville and his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul finished in third place Sunday but realized that the radiator of the i20 was pierced.
When the leak drained his car's cooling system on the 33km journey back to service, the beer came to his rescue.
“We had driven maybe three or four kilometers of the road section when I saw the engine temperature was very high, that's when I realized we had a problem. It was very stressful,” Neuville told wrc.com.
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| Neuville and Gilsoul topping up the cooling system with beer. (Photo: Twitter WRC) |
Neuville and Gilsoul pulled over and removed the i20's front bumper to get better access while they plugged the hole.
“We were able to fix it quite quickly but to refill the system we made use of everything we had in the car, luckily we got some beer at the end of the Power Stage and we used it.”
The pair stopped again a few kilometers later to top-up the system with more Mexican lager.
“I really tried to stay calm and say to myself we were okay, but when we had more than 25km to go I thought okay, maybe this could be the end. But after we stopped again the temperature came down and then I thought it would be okay.”
Their next stop was when they arrived, on time, at the finish to collect Hyundai's first podium on only the team's third rally. So would Neuville be breaking his self-imposed alcohol-ban tonight? “For the moment, no, but I can change my mind at any time,” he laughed.