Thierry Neuville: From €256 in the Bank to WRC Glory

“I can remember very well when I went to my bank and I had €256 Euros left in my account,” Neuville recalls. “That was everything I had left. I always remember my mother fighting against me at that time, that I [shouldn’t] put all my money into my cars.”

More than a decade later, Neuville’s unshakable belief has carried him to the pinnacle of the FIA World Rally Championship. Crowned the 2024 WRC champion last week at FORUM8 Rally Japan, the Belgian finally achieved the dream he had fought so hard for through years of triumph and heartbreak, cementing his place among the greats of the sport.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Growing up in the quiet Belgian town of Saint Vith, Neuville’s first taste of motorsport wasn’t behind the wheel of a rally car, but from the sidelines. Trips to the Rallye du Condroz-Huy and the nearby Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps lit the spark that would grow into lifelong passion.

At just six years old, his father Alain handed him the keys to a quad bike. Hours spent tearing through the fields helped hone his coordination and love for speed and, by the time he graduated to driving cars, the dream had fully taken hold.

“We had no money, to be honest,” he recalled. “Both my parents were working and separated as well. I was at my father's place every two weekends and during the week I was with my mother, who was working full-time as well to be able to survive. But they have never let me down in difficult situations as well.”

It wasn’t long before Neuville was competing in grassroots rallies, making a yellow Opel Corsa sing on the stages. Campaigning a Ford Fiesta ST in, he won the 2008 Royal Automobile Club of Belgium Rally contest which opened the door for him to drive a Citroën C2 R2 Max in the Citroën Rally Trophy Belux the following year.

By 2010, he had broken onto the international scene, scoring his first Junior WRC victory whilst also notching up some useful results in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in S2000 machinery.

In 2011, Neuville’s stock soared with two standout IRC victories in Corsica and Sanremo. Citroën quickly took notice, offering him a full season in its Junior team for 2012. He repaid their faith by delivering a solid seventh-place championship finish and earned himself a reputation as one of rallying’s brightest prospects.

The following year, Neuville joined the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team. Despite being only in his second full WRC campaign, he delivered four podiums and finished 2013 as runner-up to Sébastien Ogier. It was a meteoric rise – but the best was yet to come.

THE HYUNDAI ERA BEGINS

Neuville’s eye-catching consistency and pace attracted the attention of Hyundai Motorsport. Preparing to re-enter the championship in 2014 as a brand-new team, following the brand’s ill-fated foray into WRC in the early 2000s, they signed Neuville to lead their team.

The partnership bore its first fruits that same year with a stunning victory at Rallye Deutschland, marking both Neuville’s and Hyundai’s maiden WRC win. It was a glimpse of what was to come, though the road to further success would be anything but smooth.

THE AGONY OF SECOND PLACE

While Neuville established himself as one of the WRC’s most consistent performers, the ultimate prize remained elusive. Four further (2017 – 2020) times he finished as championship runner-up, often coming heartbreakingly close to glory.

There were moments of brilliance: iconic victories at events like Rally Sweden, Rally Monte-Carlo, the Tour de Corse and the gruelling EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. Yet each season ended with the Belgian narrowly missing out, as rivals like Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tänak walked away with the crown.

In 2021, just one week before the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, Neuville announced a new co-driver in fellow Belgian Martijn Wydaeghe. Despite having limited time to prepare, the partnership began with an against-the-odds top three finish at round one – quickly followed up by victories on home soil in Ypres and also in Spain.

2024: THE YEAR OF TRIUMPH 

This season, Neuville, Wydaeghe, and the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID finally struck gold. Wins in Monte-Carlo and Greece highlighted their versatility, while a series of six podiums ensured they remained firmly in control of the championship battle.

Arriving at FORUM8 Rally Japan, the final round, Neuville needed just six points to be guaranteed the championship. But in classic Neuville fashion, it wouldn’t come easily.

A turbocharger failure sent him tumbling down the leaderboard to 15^th on day one. Neuville clawed his way back the following day, fighting hard to end Saturday in seventh - enough to keep his hopes alive.

Then, on Sunday morning, fate intervened. Ott Tänak, his team-mate and the only driver who could challenge him, crashed out. After years of near-misses, Neuville was champion at last.

“We worked so long for this,” he said. “I want to thank everybody who was part of it, who fought for us and all the team as well. We were many times very close; we always give it our all, but this year we have been rewarded for it.”