The world champion was frustrated by issues beyond punctures in Greece – but Hankook refutes his claim. Photography by Hyundai & Toyota Words by Luke Barry World Rally champion Thierry Neuville has slammed Hankook for not being “at the level of the WRC” at Acropolis Rally Greece. Neuville suffered yet another setback in his world title defense last weekend, as he picked up three punctures across the event – one from a leading position on Friday. Having to stop and change a second tire, one stage after his first, Neuville cut a particularly agitated figure as he engaged in a heated exchange with the stage-end interviewer who enquired how he’d got it. Neuville would eventually finish fifth. He told DirtFish: “Honestly I think we lost a good result here, especially on the tire issues, which for me are not only issues of puncturing, but there was more than that for us this weekend. Neuville suffered three punctures throughout the Acropolis. “Hankook has to do a better job on that side and investigate a bit deeper. I’m not the only one. If I understood well, Kalle had a similar issue, but that shouldn’t happen. It cost me a good result here this weekend.” Analyzing the causes of each tire issue, Neuville said one was the sidewall, another was a very small hole, and the other “clearly a mistake when the tire has been mounted on the rim.” He explained: “I mean we had internal damage in the tires which obviously have been done while mounting the tires on the rims, and the tire even wasn’t punctured, it just let the air go in the stage and at the end there was no hole in the tire. “But just with compression it was losing the air all the time and at the end I had to stop and change it. So that’s not the level of the WRC.” Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta claimed even those who weren’t picking up punctures on the stages were experiencing problems afterwards. But he stressed he didn’t want to complain because he knows Hankook is working on it. Katsuta told DirtFish: “I think it’s just a lottery. Some of the drivers just didn’t change tires on the stage, they got it at the end of the stage. So we’ve seen that many drivers had a flat at the end of the stage and they changed after the stage. “On the powerstage I clearly didn’t have a big hit or anything. So for me, if we can, it would be nice to know how it’s happening. “We know that the guys are pushing hard to make better tires, so I don’t want to complain about their job. But it’s quite hard to accept our side also – losing the time and the opportunity by this kind of thing. So we just need to improve for both of us.” Steven Cho, Hankook Tire WRC representative, has always made clear that the manufacturer takes all driver feedback extremely seriously. But he refuted Neuville’s claim that any tire had been fitted incorrectly. “We fully understand the frustration of the drivers who are competing at the highest level,” Cho told DirtFish. “The Acropolis Rally is known as one of the toughest events on the WRC calendar, and this year’s edition has been especially rough and extreme. On top of that, the drivers – with their experience and expertise in the sport – always provide valuable feedback, which we deeply appreciate. “Our technical team is working closely with each team to analyze damage patterns, and we will incorporate both driver and team feedback into future development. “Regarding the tire mounting issue, we take every comment and concern seriously. We conducted a thorough joint inspection with Hyundai engineers at our service area, including a detailed internal analysis of the tire. Based on this investigation, we were able to see that it was neither a fitting nor a manufacturing issue.” Words: Luke Barry