After many unsuccessful attempts, Thierry Neuville has fulfilled his dream of winning the drivers’ title in the World Rally Championship: “The last box is ticked”
There are rough diamonds that can be polished in record time. Like Kalle Rovanperä, who was already a two-time world rally champion by the age of 23. Others, on the other hand, take years to shine in their full glory. Like Thierry Neuville, who has finally reached his goal at the age of 36 and can call himself the 2024 world rally champion.
“We did it. I’m very proud and happy, and it’s just a reward for years of fighting and never giving up,”
Neuville had already demonstrated his talent early in his career. In 2013, as an M-Sport Ford driver, he finished runner-up in the world championship with seven podium finishes, behind high-flyer Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen). The following year, the driver from the German-speaking part of Belgium switched to Hyundai, where he rose to team leader.
The long road to success
But it was a long road to success. First, Hyundai was in the shadow of Volkswagen for a long time, then Ogier continued to win WRC titles even after he switched to M-Sport, before Toyota took over at the helm of the WRC. And Neuville sometimes got in his own way, making mistakes at crucial moments that threw him out of the title race.
But 2024 finally seemed to be his year. Since his victory in the season opener in Monte Carlo, Neuville led the WRC standings, which was also due to the special situation regarding his rivals from Toyota.
Rovanperä took it easier after his two title wins and only competed in seven world championship races, while Ogier only did a part-time program as in previous years. And Elfyn Evans, as the new number 1 in the team, was unable to prove that he had what it takes to be world champion.
Problems on Friday “a hard blow”
Before the season finale in Japan, his teammate Ott Tänak was Neuville’s only title rival, and with a 25-point lead, the Belgian seemed to have the upper hand. But then his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 was slowed down by persistent technical problems on Friday.
While Tänak was leading the rally, Neuville was only in 15th place and suddenly had to fear for the world championship title again. “Friday morning was certainly a hard blow,” the Belgian reflects.
“We were second and would probably have won the rally that weekend, or at least finished second,” said Neuville. ‘That was tough, but Martijn [Wydaeghe] and I kept our cool. We had that 25-point lead, which gave us hope for a better result at the end of the weekend.’
Neuville is living the dream
This calm paid off. On Saturday, Neuville improved to seventh place, putting him in the points and regaining control of the title fight. In the end, he even won it without any action on his part, after Tänak had an accident on Sunday on the 17th stage.
Neuville believes that his considerable experience has also helped him to remain calm in critical situations. “I can say to myself that I’m living a dream, and there aren’t many people who are living the dream and have the chance to do what I’ve dreamed of,” he says.
“I always try to tell myself that you are still living a dream even when things don’t go the way you want them to, and try to make the best of it. Of course, I don’t always succeed, and this year has been particularly difficult,” says the Belgian.
Mental strength as the key to success
As the championship leader, he always had to start first on Friday at the many gravel rallies and had no chance on the loose gravel. But Neuville, in contrast to previous years, stayed calm and didn’t overdo it. “It didn’t always feel right, but on the other hand, we had to do our job and we did it,” he says.
For co-driver Wydaeghe, mental strength was the key to success even in the difficult sporting situations of this season. “The pressure [to lead the championship all year round] was great and we drove under special conditions, for example, we had to open the stages everywhere,” he says.
“We knew that it would be more difficult because of that, but I think our strength this year was our mental attitude. We kept pushing and optimizing everything. That was the key to our success,” said the Belgian.
Now that he has achieved his ultimate career goal, Neuville believes he will approach next year differently: “I think I will enjoy it more. I think the pressure will be a little bit less now that the final box is ticked and everything is a bonus.”