Thierry Neuville
1. Who is Thierry Neuville?
Thierry Neuville is a Belgian pilot, whose date of birth is June 16, 1988. He was born in Saint-Vith in Belgium. He currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Hyundai Motorsport.
Thierry Neuville on the Sardinia Rally. © DPPI
2. Thierry Neuville’s junior career
Thierry Neuville took part in his first rally at the age of 19 in 2007 in an Opel Corsa in Luxembourg. The following year, he won his first title with the Rally Contest organized by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium.
In 2009, he took part in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and especially that year, Thierry Neuville made his WRC debut with the Catalunya Rally at the wheel of a Citroën C2 R2 Max. A first weekend which will end in retirement due to alternator problems.
From 2010, he himself entered five of the six stages of the Junior World Rally Championship at the wheel of a Citroën C2 S1600. Thierry Neuville wins on the Bulgarian asphalt. The same year, the Belgian driver participated in the IRC with Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg.
At the wheel of the Peugeot 207 S2000, he took 3rd position in the Ypres rally on home soil. At the end of the season, he ranked 9th and continued the following year with the same team. This second stint in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge allowed him to attract the attention of Citroën with two victories in Corsica and San Remo.
3. Thierry Neuville’s WRC career
After his good performances in the IRC, Thierry Neuville started in 2012 with the Citroën Junior Team in the WRC, to drive a Citroën DS3 WRC. For the start of the season, he did not finish the Monte Carlo Rally and had to wait four rounds before scoring his first points at the Rally of Portugal in the premier category. His best result came at the Rallye de France with six stages won, even if he had to settle for fourth place behind Sébastien Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen.
After a 7th place in the championship, the Belgian joined M-Sport. With the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he began the season with a retirement in Monte Carlo before achieving a series of five podiums in a row in Greece, Italy, Finland, Germany and Australia. These results will allow Thierry Neuville to finish vice-world champion in 2013 behind Sébastien Ogier.
At the end of 2013, he signed up with a new team which will follow him to this day, Hyundai WRC. It was with this new team and his Hyundai i20 WRC that he won his first victory in Germany. With his new status as number 1 driver, the start of the WRC season is not, however, idyllic. Thierry Neuville retires in Monte Carlo after going off the road on the first special. At the Swedish Rally, a rock will come and break his wheel and his hopes of a podium.
The 2014 Rally Germany will be a turning point in his WRC career. Taking advantage of the retirements of Jari-Matti Latvala then Kris Meeke, Thierry Neuville obtained his first WRC victory. This improvement will not be enough and he finally ranks 6th at the end of the season.
Thierry Neuville's first victory on the Rally Germany in 2014 with Nicolas Gilsoul. © DPPI
The following year will also be complicated. With his Hyundai, the Belgian driver started with a 5th and 2nd place respectively on the Monte Carlo Rally and the Swedish Rally. But an accident on the Rally of Argentina will impact the confidence of the driver who ends the year with a retirement from the Rally of Great Britain.
In 2016, Thierry Neuville will reach a new milestone in the WRC. After two complicated seasons, the Belgian is finally able to fight for the title of world champion. Arriving at the Sardinia Rally with a 23-point lead on the clock, Thierry Neuville won his second rally of his WRC career. Over the last five rounds, he finished on the podium each time, securing his title of vice world champion in the WRC behind Sébastien Ogier.
With the new era in WRC in 2017, he took advantage of his new Hyundai to quickly dominate the debates. But whether in Monaco or at the Swedish Rally, Thierry Neuville made a mistake and had to leave victory to Jari-Matti Latvala.
But in Corsica then in Argentina, Thierry Neuville dominated the Frenchman and became a real contender for the title. After his first place in Poland, he took advantage of the Frenchman's retirement to take the lead in the WRC drivers' standings in Finland. A first in his career. The Belgian will quickly lose his position as provisional leader after a complicated weekend in Germany. The rest of the season, he will mainly fight to keep his second position, which he will succeed in doing after his victory on the Rally Australia.
The crossover between the Habs and Thierry Neuville will continue in 2018 where the two competitors will exchange positions in the driver rankings from weekend to weekend. Winner in Sweden, Portugal, Sardinia, his 16th place on the Rally of Turkey will be expensive and reduce the gap. The title will then be decided on the last round in Australia with Ott Tänak who could also claim the coronation. On the final day of the rally, Thierry Neuville made a mistake, hit a tree and handed the title to the Frenchman.
The Belgian's 2019 season begins with two podiums. Then followed a double victory in Corsica and Argentina. On the Isle of Beauty, he took advantage of Elfyn Evans' puncture to win his first rally of the season. In Chile, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul will experience a big accident which will not prevent him from winning second place in Portugal. But in Chile, his title competitor, Ott Tänak will experience a breakthrough.
The Estonian will take advantage of the setbacks of the Belgian and the Frenchman in Italy, Finland and Germany to widen the gap at the top of the WRC. Thierry Neuville will try to come back with a second place on the Wales Rally, but it is once again Ott Tänak who wins at the finish. Despite his victory in Spain, the cancellation of the Rally Australia did not allow him to do better than second at the end of the season behind the Estonian, but ahead of Sébastien Ogier.
In 2020, Thierry Neuville's start to the season is promising with a victory on the 88th edition of the Monte Carlo Rally after a battle at the front with Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans. It was 9 years in a row that the Monte Carlo Rally was won by a Frenchman. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the calendar was shortened that year. Despite his good start to the season, Thierry Neuville did not score any points on the Mexico rally and the Estonia rally due to mechanical problems.
With the two zeros scored, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul finally finished 4th in the WRC driver rankings in 2020. After 10 years of collaboration, Thierry Neuville separated from his co-driver, replaced by Martijn Wydaeghe. The new pair will succeed in correcting the situation slightly by finishing in 3rd place in the championship in 2021, which will allow them both to be renewed.
4. AUTOhebdo's opinion on Thierry Neuville
In the shoes of the eternal second, Thierry Neuville, accompanied by Martijn Wydaeghe, is one of the fastest drivers on the field, but he may have lacked consistency in the key moments of a race weekend like in Australia in 2018 against the metronome Sébastien Ogier. The Belgian has an enormous burst of speed, and is undoubtedly one of the best rally drivers ever to win the WRC. The clock is ticking and opportunities will be reduced for Neuville. What's more with the new generation arriving, at the forefront of which Kalle Rovanperä, promised a great future in WRC and perhaps even this year.
5. Learn more about Thierry Neuville
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