Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe take WRC title after Ott Tanak crash

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe take WRC title after Ott Tanak crash

24th November 2024 0 By Kamron Kent

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has secured the World Rally Championship title for the first time in his career after his teammate Ott Tanak crashed out in Rally Japan. 

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

The Belgian crew of Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe has dramatically won the 2024 FIA WRC title after a weekend of turmoil in their fight for championship glory. 

Despite an okay start to the event on Thursday, Neuville was hit with issues on Friday related to his turbo, and the champion-elect bled time, forcing him to fight back on Saturday. However, on the opening stage of Sunday, Tanak – Neuville’s only other championship contender – crashed out of the rally. 

Neuville, finishing seventh on Saturday, only needed two points to take the championship on Sunday. 

However, Tanak’s crash and the Estonian’s inability to continue means Nueville’s championship lead will no longer be under threat, and he and Wydaeghe will take the title. This will be the case even if the Belgian crew themselves crash out. 

Speaking at the stage end of the following stage, SS18, newly-crowned champion, Neuville said: 

“Honestly, it came like a surprise. I don’t know what to say at the moment, but I think we deserve it. It has been a very challenging year, very tough, and obviously much more pressure than we needed – especially for this last event.

“We knew there was a risk and we managed our weekend as good as we could with the problems we had. Obviously, we are happy now and we are a bit more relaxed now so we can push harder for the manufacturers’ championship, because we want to go home with all the trophies.”

Just near the end of the 17th stage, Tanak carried speed into a right-hand bend and understeered off the course. Despite his best efforts to get the Hyundai i20N Rally1 back onto the asphalt, his car hit a bump in the bank and flew into a ditch. 

Although this crash now decides the drivers and co-drivers’ championship, going to the championship leaders who took the lead back in January’s Monte Carlo Rally, the focus quickly switches to the team’s title.

As Tanak, who was leading the rally, crashed out of the event, Toyota have inched closer to taking the championship victory in the team’s standings. 

However, after three stages, the championship is tied on points with Hyundai just above Toyota.

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Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

CategoryNews Rallying WRC

About the author

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

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