Thierry Neuville clambered out of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 for the final time, set what proved to be the fastest time and waved to the gathered crowd at the finish.
It had all the hallmarks of a goodbye, or at minimum a ‘see you later’. Neuville doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but whatever it is it’s clear he won’t be contesting a full WRC campaign in 2027.
Since becoming world champion in 2024, Neuville has struggled and perhaps lacked the same dogged determination he once possessed. He feels a "little break" will help him reset.
"This was definitely not our best season," Neuville told DirtFish, "but at least we were capable of bringing home one victory for the team this year. It was nearly two!"
"But yeah, it has been a tough [time] out there since ’24. It has been generally tough and tougher and tougher as well. So, yeah, I’m relieved that it’s the end of the season now."
"Even though I don’t know what will be the future, I feel like a little break will be good for myself. We probably might be around next year, but in what circumstances, I don’t know exactly yet."
The stalwart driver for Hyundai has been a full-time driver in the WRC since 2012, when he drove for the Citroen Junior Team before a breakthrough campaign with M-Sport that unlocked his move to the manufacturer squad.
"Honestly, there has been, I think, nobody doing so many consecutive seasons without missing any of the rounds," Neuville said reflecting on his immense longevity.
"I just spoke to Jari-Matti Latvala. I think he did 12 from 2007 to 2019, I did 15 full seasons. And before that I did Junior WRC and IRC at the same time, so I was going for 21 races per year."
"So it’s been a long chapter and that’s why I feel I will be comfortable with doing a bit less next year. But who knows? Maybe the energy and the fighting spirit comes back after a little bit calmer season and then we see."
Neuville follows a recent trend of world champions taking a step back or sabbatical, matching the scheduling choices made by other top-tier stars in recent years.
Baca Juga
Thierry Neuville pastikan tinggalkan status musim penuh WRC 2027 demi rehat. Simak analisis mendalam terkait rencana masa depannya di sini.
Simak analisis mendalam kegagalan dramatis Lia Block meraih gelar juara reli AS 2026 di etape terakhir. Baca selengkapnya di Sportrik Media.
Jari-Matti Latvala targetkan kembali tampil di WRC dan beri tantangan untuk rekor start Sebastien Ogier. Baca analisis mendalam di sini!
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