A year ago, almost to the day, Thierry Neuville ideally started the 2024 season of WRC by imposing itself on the Rally Monte-Carlo and scoring all the available points, before going for his first world title at the end of the year. A year later, the world champion experienced a completely different scenario on the "Monte-Carl'". The Belgian, who proudly wears the number 1 on his mount, had various misadventures that put him out of the running for victory in the event alpine.
Forced to start in first position on Thursday and Friday, the driver Hyundai had two off-track exits, on the same special stage and in the same hairpin! In the morning, in SS6, an error of judgment on his braking point sent him into the scenery. Despite the breakage of his left rear suspension, Thierry Neuville managed to finish the special stage and reach the service park without penalty, except for the time lost because of this accident. In the afternoon, during SS9, it was because of a puncture that the Belgian went straight on again in the same hairpin, this time without major damage.
This is how Friday unraveled for our defending champions… 🤯#WRC | #RallyMonteCarlo ???????? pic.twitter.com/xJTQ5ju85l
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) January 24, 2025
Neuville makes an appointment in Sweden
The following day, at the start of the first special stage of the day on Saturday, Thierry Neuville suffered a mechanical problem and a loss of power, forcing him to stop to reset his Hyundai. At the finish, the reigning world champion was more than five minutes behind the leaders and finished in a distant 6th place – a rather flattering position thanks to the retirements of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari on Sunday morning. “It was obviously not a good weekend for us, it’s probably been a year since I struggled so much on a rally., Thierry Neuville told RTBF. We accept it, and now it's behind us. There's not much more to add."
"This Sunday, the road position didn't help, and we expected a lot more ice in the penultimate special, he added, aware that victory was difficult to come by this weekend at Monte-Carlo.. There were barely any patches. And in the Power Stage, if I started in crisscross like everyone else, I would automatically be the slowest, because the road improved with each passage. We tried to do the Power Stage with 4 studded tires. According to our calculations, it was the fastest formula, but in the end, there was less ice than we expected based on our information, and the calculations were no longer correct at all.
Sixth in the championship with just nine points, Thierry Neuville can however be satisfied with not having lost too many points against his main rivals for the title, namely Ott Tänak (11 points) and Kalle Rovanperä (18 points). Above all, the Belgian will have the advantage of starting after his rivals in Sweden (February 13-16), where the sweep on the snowy slopes is important. "We announced it yesterday, we needed favorable conditions to have a good Sunday, and that wasn't the case. We learned a little more about the tires, apart from that, there's not much to remember from this weekend. In Sweden, we'll have a better position on the road, and we'll have to take advantage of it. We're looking forward to it. When you're well positioned in Monte-Carlo, you know you're struggling in Sweden."
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