Thierry Neuville: Hyundai's Belgian Rally Driver and 2024 World Champion

Thierry Neuville is a Belgian rally driver who has spent most of his career with Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship. He was runner-up in the drivers' standings five times before taking his first world title in 2024, which made him the first Belgian to win the crown. Along the way he also helped Hyundai win two manufacturers' titles.

How did Neuville's rally career begin?

Neuville started rallying in 2007 at the age of 19, driving an Opel Corsa on an event in Luxembourg. A win in the Royal Automobil Club of Belgium Rally Contest in 2008 started his career in earnest, and a Citroen Rally Trophy Belux title followed in 2009 in a Citroen C2 R2 Max.

The 2009 season brought his first international entries. He made his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut at the Ypres Rally in a Peugeot 207 S2000, crashing out while lying fourth. The same year he made his World Rally Championship debut at the Rally Catalunya in a Citroen C2 R2, and he retired from that event too.

The 2010 season was a patchwork of entries. Neuville drove a self-entered Citroen C2 S1600 in five of the six rounds of the Junior World Rally Championship, with Nicolas Klinger alongside him. He retired in the opening two rounds while leading his category, but he won his first junior event on asphalt at Rally Bulgaria. Retirements cost him the title, and he finished seventh despite leading many rounds and collecting many stage wins.

Later that year he contested six Intercontinental Rally Challenge events for Peugeot Bel-Lux. He had already finished fourth on gravel at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, and his best result came at his country event, the Ypres Rally, where he took a career-best third. He ended the season ninth with twelve points.

Five runner-up finishes, one world title, and a career built on persistence rather than a single breakthrough.

When did Neuville win his first Intercontinental Rally Challenge events?

In 2011 he won his first Intercontinental Rally Challenge events, taking the Tour de Corse by 15.5 seconds over Jan Kopecky and the Rallye Sanremo by 1.5 seconds. He was only 0.8 seconds short of winning the Mecsek Rallye, and he entered the Cyprus finale as one of five drivers able to win the title.

The Cyprus round proved a heartbreak. Neuville held the lead early on, but an alternator problem forced him out. Andreas Mikkelsen won the rally and took the title, and Neuville finished fifth in the standings. It was a hard way to end a season that had shown real pace on every type of surface.

How did the Citroen and Qatar years prepare him for the WRC?

Citroen signed him for selected 2012 events in a Citroen DS3 WRC, his first season in a World Rally Car. He scored his first points in Portugal with eighth place and finished sixth at the Acropolis, his first error-free event. He also stood in for the Qatar World Rally Team in New Zealand when Nasser Al-Attiyah was injured, and he led a World Rally event for the first time in France, where he finished fourth. He ended the year seventh overall.

In 2013 he joined the Qatar World Rally Team in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. His maiden podium came at Rally Mexico, where he finished third, and a run of podiums in Greece, Italy, Finland, Germany and Australia turned him into the surprise contender of the season. At Rallye Deutschland he finished second, 53.0 seconds behind Dani Sordo, and at Rally Australia he needed a strong second place and Power Stage score to keep a mathematical chance alive.

The title went to Sebastien Ogier, and Neuville finished runner-up, 114 points behind him. The result showed that he could fight at the front over a full season.

When did Neuville first win for Hyundai?

Neuville won his first world rally for Hyundai at the 2014 Rallye Deutschland, the manufacturer's first WRC win. The result was a double victory, with teammate Dani Sordo second. Neuville had rolled six times during the shakedown beforehand, but the car was repaired and he and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul went on to win.

Hyundai had re-entered the sport in 2014 and signed Neuville as its lead driver, having confirmed the multi-year deal on 5 November 2013. Neuville finished sixth in both 2014 and 2015. His 2015 season started well, with fifth in Monte Carlo and second in Sweden, but a crash on the last stage of Rally Argentina dented his confidence and he managed only one more podium that year, in Italy.

The 2016 season began with a podium in Monte Carlo in a new i20, but mechanical trouble in Sweden and an accident in Mexico cost him points. In Portugal he ran out of fuel on a stage because of a miscalculation, and his car was left stranded. Sardinia was different. He won nine of the 19 stages and took the rally, and by the end of the season he had five podiums from the final five events.

Why did Neuville finish runner-up so often?

Neuville was runner-up five times, but the causes varied. Mechanical trouble, an early mistake or a retirement at a decisive round repeatedly undid his pace. In 2016 he finished runner-up with 160 points, in 2017 and 2018 he narrowly lost the title to Sebastien Ogier, and in 2019 Ott Tanak took the championship.

The 2017 season showed his speed. He won Rally Argentina and the Tour de Corse, and he led the early rounds before a crash on the second day of Rallye Deutschland cost him a sizeable block of points. He recovered in Wales and then won the Australian finale, his fourth win of the year. He took the runner-up spot for the third time in his career, but the title stayed out of reach.

The 2018 season had the most dramatic run of the period. Neuville won Rally Sweden, his seventh WRC win and his first on snow, making him only the third non-Nordic driver to take the Swedish rally. After Portugal he led the championship by 19 points, and he won the Rally d'Italia Sardegna by seven tenths of a second over Ogier. A broken suspension in Turkey cost him a lead he had held, and a tree strike in Australia ended his title bid, leaving him runner-up for a fourth time overall.

The 2019 season was hard in a different way. He finished second in Monte Carlo and won in Corsica, Argentina and Spain, where he took his twelfth WRC win. A heavy crash in Chile, after he misjudged a fast crest, required medical help, although neither he nor co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul suffered a major injury. Tanak took the title, and the cancelled Australian round left Neuville second overall. Hyundai won its first manufacturers' title that season, thanks to the strong results of Neuville and his teammates.

How did Neuville win the 2024 drivers' title?

Neuville won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally and the Acropolis Rally, then stayed consistent through the year. Mechanical problems at the Japan finale did not stop him from confirming the championship before the final stage. He became the first Belgian to win the WRC drivers' title, with co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe alongside him.

Hyundai also gained its first drivers' championship title in more than a decade, a result that Neuville and Wydaeghe both shared. The 2024 title was the end of a long wait. Between 2021 and 2023 he finished third in the drivers' standings in each of three seasons, and in 2020 he had been fourth, which brought his run of runner-up finishes to an end.

Did Neuville race on circuits as well?

Yes. He first raced touring cars in 2019, when he drove a Hyundai i30 as a guest driver for Engstler Motorsport in the ADAC TCR Germany series. He took pole, fastest lap and victory in the first race at the Nurburgring, and he has said he wants to contest more circuit races, including the 24 Hours Nurburgring.

The first race was a dominant one. Neuville started from pole, set the fastest lap, led every lap and won. The second race was harder. Because the grid was reversed he started tenth, and he finished sixth in rainy conditions. As a guest driver he was not eligible for championship points, but the weekend showed that his speed was not limited to gravel, snow or asphalt rallies.

What was Neuville's 2020 season like?

In 2020 Neuville started by winning the Monte Carlo Rally, but a sixth place in Sweden and retirements in Mexico and Estonia, both caused by mechanical trouble, cost him the lead. He finished fourth in the drivers' standings, while Hyundai secured its second manufacturers' title.

The season was shortened by a pandemic. Neuville trailed Ogier by a wide margin with three events left, and at the Turkey round he led for most of the rally before a puncture on the final day handed the win to Elfyn Evans. He then finished second in Sardinia, behind Dani Sordo.

The Monza finale was his last chance. He needed to win and score maximum power stage points, but he crashed out early. Ogier went on to win his seventh title, while teammates Ott Tanak and Sordo finished second and third to give Hyundai its manufacturers' championship.

Why did the 2021 to 2023 seasons fall short?

Neuville placed third overall in every season from 2021 to 2023, which kept the title out of reach for three more years. His own results were consistent, if never quite enough to challenge for the title, and the gap to the leaders stayed wide enough to rule out a late charge.

The 2024 title therefore ended a long wait for Hyundai, which had not won the drivers' championship in more than a decade. Neuville's breakthrough came only after a run of near misses that had defined much of his career.

Career summary