The Belgian driver said his ability to remain calm in times of adversity and his “never give up” attitude They played a key role in securing the WRC title in the 2024 season. After finishing second five times, he took the final step and became world champion after finishing sixth in a dramatic finale at Rally Japan.
After leading the championship since the Monte-Carlo Rally, he and his co-driver, Martin Wydaegheonly They needed to add six points to seal the title. However, the path to his first crown was not easy when a turbo failure put the championship in doubt, but a dazzling comeback gave him hope when Ott Tanak He was involved in an accident on Sunday.
When asked If there was ever a time when you thought your lifelong dream of winning the title wouldn’t come truedeclared to : “Friday morning was a big blow. We were second, and maybe we would have won the rally this weekend, or we would have finished second, but we took a big blow.”
“It was hard, but again, Martijn [Wydaeghe] and I remained calm, we had these 25 points in advance which gave us hope for a better result. We achieved it, I’m very proud and very happy, it’s the reward for years of struggle and never giving up,” he explained. “It’s not that simple [mantener la calma en los momentos difÃciles]but maybe it’s the experience, I have the ability to tell myself that I’m living a dream, that there are few who live this and have the opportunity to do what I dreamed of doing .
“I always try to tell myself that if things don’t go the way you want them to, you keep living your dream and try to make the best of it,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not the case, and this year has been very difficult. There have been part-time drivers, and I haven’t always felt good, but on the other hand, you had to do the work and we continue to do it.
His co-driver highlighted the strong mental determination he and the Belgian possess as a crucial factor in their fight for the title: “The pressure [de liderar el campeonato todo el año] It was good, it was the circumstances we were in everywhere, we knew what was going to happen and that it would complicate things, but I think our strong point this year is our mentality, we continued to pushing was the key. to success.
“It also shows that everything around us was working well, the team and everyone around us, we had a good group of five or six people, that’s what we need to be protected from all these things.” , he declared.
Celebration of Thierry Neuville’s title
