A dog was unharmed after it came in the way of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in FIA World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Rally Mexico on Friday.
All did not go well with Neuville alongside co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul in his Hyundai i20 Coupe in WRC Rally Mexico as the Belgian was forced to retire in SS9 which set him back in the event – the lone happening amid COVID-19. That was not just what happened with him.
Prior to him stopping, a dog had a mighty escape from being hit by Neuville in one of the turns. As the Belgian turned a blind right, the animal decided to cross the path and just managed to escape the Hyundai – the onboard, though, gave a huge scare.
Both Neuville and WRC crew confirmed that the dog was fine. A fresh video, however, has surfaced which shows the moment dog crossed the path of Neuville and he managed to just escape being hit by the Hyundai machinery.
“Day was going pretty well for us. Unfortunately, we had a technical issue in SS9 and had to retire. This is part of the sport. We have to focus now on the rest of the race to get as much manufacturers points as possible and try to push in the Power Stage on Sunday.
“Last but not least, you have been asking about the dog crossing the road in front of us today and I’m happy that he’s OK! I didn’t hit him and the WRC Live production confirmed that he was seen running around by the helicopter crew.”
While WRC hasn’t uploaded any official video but there are few on Youtube and Twitter:
Menuda escapada.. @thierryneuville
No paso a mayores…#WRC #RallyMX pic.twitter.com/yfGwZzwTGG— Oscar Guerrero™ (@OSCAR_WRC1) March 14, 2020
Aside the issues for Neuville, there was more drama when Esapekka Lappi with co-driver Janne Fern were forced to vacate their M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC when it caught fire in SS9. Fortunately, both the driver and co-driver was fine.
Here’s news from WRC on Rally Argentina postponement