Clément Pédron, Media365, published on Friday December 20, 2024 at 9:00 p.m.
After several years on the podium of the World Rally Championship, Thierry Neuville finally won the first title of his career at the age of 36. Sébastien Ogier, who was aligned on a partial program, still offered the manufacturers' title to Toyota.
He'd been waiting for this for years. After five vice-champion places between 2013 and 2019, and three third places over the last three seasons, Thierry Neuville has finally won the coveted title of world rally champion for the 2024 season. will long remember this year where he had to battle but also where he made his racing experience speak for himself. And even if certain other big names in the discipline, Kalle Rovanperä (winner in 2022 and 2023) and Sébastien Ogier (winner from 2013 to 2018 and 2020 and 2021) have chosen to align themselves with partial programs, thus reducing the list of competitors, Martijn Wydaeghe's teammate fully deserves this coronation, that of experience and stubbornness for the one who started the WRC in 2012 at the time with Citröen.
Despite a field that was not complete throughout the season, Thierry Neuville quickly showed that he was the boss against his rivals, Ott Tänak who returned to Hyundai, and Elfyn Evans (Toyota). From the first meeting of the season in fact. Like Jorge Martin in Moto GP, the Belgian stood out for his consistency. He has never left a rally with zero points in 2024, unlike his two main pursuers. Even more, the Hyundai driver scored at least 10 points in eleven of the first twelve events of the championship.
A breathtaking season in 2025
With two victories in his pocket (Monte-Carlo and Greece), six podiums and ten top 5s, Thierry Neuville arrived in Japan, for the last round of the season, with 25 points ahead of Tänak. And in the land of the Rising Sun, the Belgian had some problems with his turbo causing him to lose eight minutes at the start of the weekend, not to mention the excellent performances of his Estonian teammate, the only one who can still tickle him in the general classification. . But the universe ended up giving Thierry Neuville a helping hand with Tänak going off the road in the first special on Sunday, thus validating the title.
Sébastien Ogier took second place in the last rally of the season, allowing Toyota to be crowned in the manufacturers' championship. In 2024, the eight-time world champion, who had chosen a partial program, won three rounds (Croatia, Portugal, Finland). The Frenchman took fourth place overall but by his own admission, he does not regret this place given his initial choice. In 2025, unlike Kalle Rovanperä, Sébastien Ogier will once again be aligned with a partial program.
