He’s been the bane of the Belgian’s career to date, but Thierry Neuville is delighted Sébastien Ogier is back for one more World Rally Championship campaign.
Neuville’s got to make this one stick. And he knows it. After finishing second to Ogier three times in the last five years, the Hyundai Motorsport star is focused on ruining his rival’s farewell 2021 tour.
“Of course, I still want to win the title when Sébastien [Ogier] is still in the championship – it’s most important for us to fight against the best,” Neuville told DirtFish. “If Ogier is gone then one of the best is gone.
“There are other good drivers still in the championship, but for personal pleasure it would be more valuable if I could win when Sébastien is there. This is why we want to keep him with us – everybody wants to keep the best in the championship.”
Neuville started his first WRC event just one year later than Ogier, but while the seven-time world champion drove a factory World Rally Car for the first time at the end of the 2008 season, it took Neuville until the top of 2012 before he progressed to the same level.
Ogier has 39 more starts and 36 more wins than Neuville.
If Ogier hadn’t decided to remain in the championship this season, it would have left the WRC with only Ott Tänak competing as a title winner, following Sébastien Loeb’s departure from the Hyundai Motorsport squad at the end of last year.
