Thierry Neuville becomes first-ever Belgian world rally champion
Belgian Thierry Neuville became the first Belgian world rally champion on Sunday. His only remaining rival for the title, Ott Tänak, went off the track and retired on the first stage of the day at the Rally of Japan, the final round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
Neuville started the Rally of Japan with a 25-point lead over Tänak, needing only six points to win the championship. But after a 15th-place finish on Friday due to a loss of power, the Belgian almost saw his title hopes dashed. He responded with a solid seventh-place finish on Saturday, which earned him four points and left him just two points shy of his first championship win.
The decisive moment came on Sunday's first stage when Estonian Tänak slid off the track. His crash caused extensive damage and forced him to withdraw from the race. As a result, Tänak lost his 18 points from Saturday, ensuring Neuville of first place in the standings before the end of the rally.
First-ever WRC win
"To be honest, this came as a surprise. I don't really know what to say at the moment," said Neuville on hearing of Tänak's crash. "After a challenging and tough season, I think we deserved this title. There was obviously more pressure than we needed, especially for this last rally. We knew there were still risks, but considering the problems we had this weekend, we handled them well."
"After a challenging and tough season, I think we deserved this title"
This is the first time the 36-year-old Neuville has won the WRC, after finishing runner-up five times, in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. This season, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe won two rallies, in Monaco and Greece, and finished on the podium a further four times.
© PHOTO TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP
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