Thierry Neuville

Driver profile

Career Summary

Info

Nationality:	BEL
Date of Birth:	16.06.1988
Age:	26
First Rally:	2009, Spain

Season 2014

Classification:	WRC
Car No:	7
Team:	Hyundai Shell World Rally Team
Co-driver:	Nicolas Gilsoul
Points:	46
Standing:	6
Rally Wins:	0
Retirements:	0
Podiums:	2

Here’s what makes him special:

• Cool as a cucumber, Neuville has a winning mix of youth, raw speed and natural talent

• The revelation of the 2013 season, Neuville’s excellent results in a Fiesta RS WRC meant he had his pick of three teams for 2014

• Widely tipped as a future champion, he will lead the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team in 2014

• He’s a snappy dresser, known for his colourful taste in watches and glasses

The story so far

Neuville has very quickly established himself as one of the WRCs rising stars.

Having cut his teeth on events in his homeland of Belgium as a teenager, he kicked off his first international rallying campaign in 2010 when he contested the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. He scored one win and a podium in the WRC that season and also notched up some useful results in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in S2000 machinery.

In 2011, Neuville claimed IRC victories in Corsica and Sanremo and this prompted Citroën’s WRC squad to offer him a full season in its Junior World Rally Team in 2012. After finishing seventh in the 2012 championship, he was quickly snapped up by the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team for a full assault on the 2013 series.
Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Neuville claimed four consecutive runner-up finishes and three third places during the course of the season. This helped him clinch second place in the drivers’ championship.

This kind of form ensured that Neuville emerged as the hottest property on the 2014 transfer market and, in November 2013, he signed a multi-year agreement to be the lead driver at Hyundai’s new WRC team.

• Highlights