Thierry Neuville clinched a career-defining maiden World Rally Championship title in dramatic circumstances at this weekend’s Rally Japan.
Often regarded among the best drivers never to win a WRC title, the Belgian can now lay that claim to rest after he and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe beat Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja to a long-awaited crown.
Neuville entered the rally with a commanding 25-point advantage over 2019 champion Tanak, needing only six points to secure the crown in Japan.
But there was once again another twist in the tale as a turbo failure threatened to derail Neuville's title party, before he delivered a stirring fightback from 15th to sixth. Ultimately, the 36-year-old secured the title when rival Tanak crashed out of the rally lead on stage 17.
It marks the culmination of a 17-year journey of highs and lows in pursuit of WRC glory for Neuville, who began his rallying career in 2007. Here Autosport charts the key steps along the way.
Early career shows WRC promise
Neuville’s emergence on the rally scene can be traced back to 2007. Then a fresh-faced 19-year-old, he finished second overall in his maiden rally - Rallye Luxembourg - driving an Opel Corsa and won the H32 class.
Victory in a Royal Automobile Club of Belgium Rally Contest the following year truly kick-started his rally career and in 2009 his talent began to emerge on the international stage. Neuville took a Citroen C2 R2 Max to the Citroen Rally Trophy Belux, competing alongside a series of co-drivers including Nicholas Klinger (the current deputy FIA safety delegate), Achim Maraite, Johny Blom and Nicolas Gilsoul. The latter would become his long-term navigator in the WRC.
Neuville made his WRC and Intercontinental Rally Challenge debuts that same year, retiring from both Rally Catalunya and his home Ypres Rally. But these appearances were a sign of his rapid trajectory. In 2010 Neuville became a WRC regular in the Junior class, and became a regular on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge scene.
Neuville showed plenty of speed during the year, tallying 26 stages wins, but costly retirements left him seventh in the JWRC standings
Unable to convert Junior WRC leads in Turkey and Portugal driving a self-entered C2, his first JWRC victory arrived on Bulgaria's asphalt, followed by a third-place finish followed in France.
Neuville showed plenty of speed during the year, tallying 26 stages wins, but costly retirements left him seventh in the JWRC standings adrift of champion Aaron Burkart. It was a similar story in the IRC, his six events driving for the Peugeot Bel-Lux team yielding a best result of third at Ypres.
But in 2011, Neuville headed into the season finale in Cyprus as one of five title contenders after guiding his Peugeot 207 S2000 to wins on asphalt in Corsica and Sanremo. Neuville led the season finale in the early stages, but an alternator issue forced him into retirement and current Hyundai WRC team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen took the title instead. Neuville and Gilsoul ended up fifth, behind Jan Kopecky, Juho Hanninen and countryman Freddy Loix.
WRC breakthrough
Neuville’s IRC title tilt was enough to catch the eye of Citroen. The French car maker signed the rising star to its junior team in WRC’s top flight for 2012, operating in the shadows of then eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.
The fast-yet-inconsistent trait continued, but when he was able to put it altogether Neuville's pace turned heads. A first WRC career stage win arrived in the SS21 Mexico super special - a trick Neuville would make his own on spectator stages. But it wasn’t until the fourth round in Portugal where he would guide the DS3 WRC to a points finish in eighth. Crashes halted his progress on several occasions, although in Argentina he bounced back to fifth after an early roll.
Amid the inconsistency, Neuville’s best display arrived on French Alsace asphalt. He led a WRC rally for first time after winning the opening stage, before chalking up six stage wins in total on his way to fourth overall. He found himself in the hunt for a first podium in Germany, before a crash in stage eight ended those hopes.
That maiden podium did arrive in what proved to be an extraordinary 2013 campaign where Neuville finished runner-up in only his second full-time season. As Citroen reshuffled its pack, Neuville headed to M-Sport Ford to rally a Fiesta under the Qatar World Rally Team banner he had run under in two events for Citroen as an injury replacement for Nasser Al-Attiyah.
“Thanks to a great learning year in the WRC, I am confident that I will be able to achieve some great results alongside M-Sport and my new team mates,” said Neuville at the time.
Sure enough, great results did materialise. While there was no stopping the runaway factory Volkswagen of Sebastien Ogier, who romped to a first world title with two events to spare, 24-year-old Neuville had laid down a marker. A first podium arrived with a run to third in Mexico, followed by six more that included four consecutive second place finishes in Sardinia, Finland, Germany and Australia.
Becoming a team leader, WRC winner, at Hyundai
Neuville’s exploits earned him team leader status in 2014. Hyundai snapped him up to head its return to the WRC alongside Dani Sordo, Hanninen and Chris Atkinson. It marked the start of a relationship with the Korean brand which will extend into a 12th season next year. But more importantly, the relationship delivered the first of Neuville’s 21 WRC wins.
It took Hyundai time to develop its i20 WRC into a fast and reliable machine capable of challenging the might of Volkswagen, Citroen and Ford on a regular basis. But all the same, a memorable success arrived in the car’s third event.
Neuville and Gilsoul piloted the car to third in a brutal Rally Mexico that will forever be remembered for its unusual finish. A hole in the i20’s radiator meant Neuville and Gilsoul were forced to use a bottle of Corona beer - awarded by the event sponsor on the podium - to fill the radiator and complete the final road section, officially sealing Hyundai’s first podium.
"It was a really incredible story and the team did what they had to do" Thierry Neuville
Almost six months later, Neuville climbed to the podium's top step for the first time in his WRC career in what was another extraordinary rally in Germany.
A series of rolls into vineyards in shakedown destroyed the i20 WRC, threatening to end his rally before it begun. That meant the shaken crew had to walk over the start ramp, as Hyundai's mechanics busily repaired the car, but somehow it was patched up ready for the start.
Huge crashes for Volkswagen favourites Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala put Neuville into a fight for victory with Citroen’s Kris Meeke, before the Northern Irishman fell afoul of stage 16. That left Neuville to record a famous victory and lead a Hyundai 1-2 ahead of Sordo.
“It was a long time ago and I always struggle to remember, but it was cool moment having family around after such an eventful rally,” Neuville told Autosport when recalling the win earlier this year. “To win in front in front of my home fans, close to the city I was born, was cool. The first victory is always great and it is the most important one.
“It was a really incredible story and the team did what they had to do. It is never easy to win, but once you have your first victory you have less stress and pressure.”
Emergence as perennial title contender
After a confidence-knocking 2015, headlined by a huge crash in Argentina, Neuville bounced back in 2016 to begin a run of four consecutive runner-up finishes in the WRC drivers' championship. Neuville had become Ogier’s perennial nearest rival as an often tense relationship between the pair developed - and has again reared its head on occasions this year.
While comprehensively beaten by Ogier in Volkswagen’s final season, before its exit in 2016 precipitated by the manufacturer’s dieselgate scandal, Neuville came much closer in 2017 as the WRC welcomed all-new technical regulations.
Following victories in Corsica, Argentina and Poland, Neuville emerged with the championship lead with four rounds to go as Ogier’s Rally Finland retirement put the Frenchman (now driving for M-Sport-Ford) on the back foot.
But things went wrong in the very next event in Germany. Sitting ahead of Ogier in third, an impact damaged the suspension and transmission on Neuville's i20 Coupe. Another retirement in Spain handed Ogier the chance to wrap up his fifth world title.
It appeared the stars had aligned for Neuville in 2018, as he again led the championship following a run of six podiums from the first nine events. These included wins in Sweden, Portugal and Sardinia, but it was a familiar story come the end of the season. A suspension failure while leading in Turkey and a crash in Great Britain handed the advantage back to M-Sport’s Ogier, who led by three points heading into the final round in Australia.
A puncture on the opening day pushed Neuville behind Ogier and he was unable to overhaul the Frenchman while cleaning the roads on the Saturday. A crash on the final day allowed Ogier to take world title number six by 18 points after championship outsider Tanak, driving for Toyota, was also forced to retire.
With Ogier swapping his M-Sport Ford Fiesta for a recalcitrant Citroen C3 in 2019, it seemed Neuville’s wait for an elusive title was over. But it was Toyota’s Tanak who instead claimed the title as Neuville’s title tilt was dented by a frightening crash in Chile, a puncture in Germany and a roll in Turkey.
Success at last
After placing fourth in the Covid-impacted 2020 season, his last alongside Gilsoul, new co-driver Wydaeghe paired up with Neuville for 2021. That proved the final full-time season for WRC dominator Ogier, now at Toyota, as he repeated his 2020 title by beating team-mate Elfyn Evans before Kalle Rovanpera picked up the mantle for Toyota in 2022.
The Finn appeared set for several years of domination when he successfully defended his title in 2023, prompting remarks from some quarters that Neuville’s chances of capturing that elusive title were diminishing.
The return of Tanak to Hyundai for 2024, after a year back at M-Sport Ford, appeared set to threaten Neuville’s status as team leader too, after three consecutive third place finishes in the points race had continued the narrative of Neuville being among the best drivers yet to win a world title.
However, this season he laid those to rest by producing a fine campaign to formally join the pantheon of WRC greats. Neuville took full advantage of Rovanpera’s shock decision to conduct only a part-time schedule, with Evans now leading Toyota’s diminished full-time contingent, and initial struggles for Tanak to click with the i20 N to lead the championship from start to finish.
A perfect victory in Monte Carlo, hailed as Neuville at his best by Abiteboul, set up the run to the title. A second triumph in Greece was arguably even better
Showing he had heeded criticism from his Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul at the end of 2023, after couple of costly crashes from the lead in Croatia and Japan, this season Neuville rarely made an error and scored points in every round. The WRC’s new points system proved controversial, but Neuville had it mastered.
A perfect victory in Monte Carlo, hailed as Neuville at his best by Abiteboul, set up the run to the title. A second triumph in Greece was arguably even better, after holding his nerve and failing to become entangled in mind games from Ogier - the part-time driver claiming his rival should “learn how to open the road” after the Belgian’s previous outbursts.
That was one example of Neuville's steely resolve, another arrived in Japan where his ultimate goal was realised. The Belgian managed to hold himself together despite his title bid appearing to crumble when his i20 N suffered a turbo failure.
With the title bid on a knife edge Neuville coped admirably with the extra pressure bestowed on him to deliver a string of fast stage times to recover to sixth, which would have been enough to secure title anyway had rival Tanak avoided his stage 17 crash and won the rally.
"I am feeling great to be honest, we worked so long for [the championship]," said Neuville on becoming the 20th WRC champion. "I don’t have the words but I want to thank everyone who was part of it, who fought for us and all the team. We were many times very close, we always gave it our all, but this year we have been rewarded for it."
