Neuville banks on dry Germany

Thierry Neuville will be hoping that the rain stays away when ADAC Rallye Deutschland gets underway with the first of 15 all-asphalt special stages tomorrow.

Wet weather remains a possibility on the FIA World Rally Championship round, which could put the Belgian youngster at a disadvantage due to his absence of knowledge of driving his Citroen DS3 WRC on Tarmac in damp conditions.

“A podium would be nice and the most important thing is to stay concentrated on our driving,” said Neuville. “But my result also depends on the weather. If there is rain then I will struggle more than the other drivers because of my lack of experience and because we are not allowed to make cuts in the tyres.”

Neuville’s bosses at Citroen Racing have high hopes for the 24-year-old in Trier, which is located 100 kilometres from his home in Belgium.

“The idea is to go for the podium, that’s what we ask him to do and it’s something he can do,” said Citroen team boss Yves Matton. “He showed last year in the IRC he was very fast on Tarmac and this rally is not far from the type of roads he was learning rallying. The only problem is if it’s raining because he has no experience with the car and the tyres in the rain.”