Neuville: ‘Once you taste the WRC title, you want more’

Thierry Neuville says the starvation for a second World Rally Championship title is stronger than ever heading into the Monte Carlo season opener because the defending champion for the primary time.

Neuville will start his title defence this week in Monte Carlo after lastly reaching his final dream final season, as he solid apart the tagline of being the championship’s perennial runner-up. 

The Hyundai driver admitted final yr that successful the title offered a big stress launch after years of striving to achieve the head of rallying. 

Heading into the brand new season with the #1 on the facet of his Hyundai i20 N, the Belgian says the success of final yr has additional fuelled his wishes for extra title glory.    

“Positively [hungry for another title], when you style it you need extra,” Neuville informed Autosport.  

“It’s all the time like this with all the things. For certain, undoubtedly what I wish to do is give it all the things like we have now finished within the different years. If all the things comes collectively we ought to be up there. 

“General I might say that we have now clearly taken a little bit of weight off our shoulders for the title battle and that title is one thing we have now been chasing for some time. 

“In any other case I might say the stress to carry out, the stress to ship for the crew and the stress to be one of the best remains to be the identical. 

“It is going to be thrilling, it is going to be difficult and it is going to be robust. I’m certain that this stress will likely be benefiting us to repeatedly preserve pushing as exhausting as we will.”

When requested if now being a world rally champion may really assist him carry out even higher in 2025, he added: “I don’t know. I believe the challenges would be the similar, there will likely be ups and downs like all the time.

“We’ve to beat these challenges, and face them and attempt to do one of the best – however with an analogous technique to final yr desirous about the factors and the championship

“I believe it is going to be 4 to 5 drivers [in the title fight] with Ott [Tanak], Kalle [Rovanpera], Elfyn [Evans] and possibly even Adrien [Fourmaux] becoming a member of the battle.”

Neuville’s title defence will start with one of many WRC’s most demanding occasions in Monte Carlo, which will likely be even trickier for crews this yr following the introduction of recent Hankook tyres and the FIA’s transfer to take away hybrid energy from Rally1 vehicles. 

“We’re all clearly lacking expertise with the brand new tyres and we will solely get extra expertise now doing the rally,” he added.

“I believe we must have a intelligent strategy for Monte Carlo and I believe it is going to be a distinct Monte Carlo than in earlier years with some extra wintry circumstances. It received’t be simple however hopefully we will get begin into the season.

“I might be completely happy to be on the rostrum and glad to be there however very completely happy to be on the highest step.”