After 17 years of hard graft, Thierry Neuville can finally call himself a world rally champion. Five-times a runner-up, the Hyundai driver enjoyed a standout season by leading the championship from start to finish, a feat most recently achieved by Sebastien Ogier in 2016.
Neuville scored two impressive victories, the first in Monte Carlo with the season’s only maximum points haul, while the second at the Acropolis Rally came despite opening the roads. Neuville mastered the WRC’s new points system the best. His speed and consistency, as one of only two drivers to score points in every round, was duly rewarded.
