Citroen Racing boss Yves Matton has backed Thierry Neuville following the Belgian’s career-best fifth overall on Philips Rally Argentina last month, even though he admits he wasn’t pleased when the youngster failed to complete day one.
Before the start of round five of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, Matton had asked Neuville to make it through the event without the need to rely on Rally 2 restart regulations.
Neuville was running fourth overall on his first appearance on the South American event when he went off on a right-hand bend and rolled.
“I am not happy that he went off on the first day,” said Matton. “I asked him to do the whole rally without using Rally 2. But what I am happy for is that he is learning to control the tempo at which he drives. At the start of the rally, he was doing some very good times for the first time he came to Argentina, competing against some drivers who have been coming here for 10 years.
“After his retirement he followed what we asked. We asked him to make sure Petter [Solberg] doesn’t come past - we gave him some pressure and told him to drive faster - and then after that we told him to slow down because the gap was enough to Petter. He did this well, this means he can begin to understand how to control the tempo, he can gauge his own pace now. This is why I am positive from this rally.”