Before starting the Acropolis Rally in Greece, hyundai has announced the renewal of Thierry Neuvillethe current leader of worldwhich will continue in 2025 with the South Korean brand, where it arrived in 2014.
Neuville took his first WRC victory with Hyundai in Rally Germany in 2014 and has since taken 20 wins, 59 podiums and 371 stage wins while driving Hyundai WRC machinery.
Neuville and his co-pilot Martijn Wydaeghe They will continue to compete with the Estonians Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja in 2025, and Hyundai is expected to reveal plans for its third lineup of i20 N Rally1 Hybrid cars in the near future.
“I am very happy to extend my contract with Hyundai. “There are not many partnerships in motorsport that have lasted as long as ours, but since 2014 we have achieved great success together,” said Neuville.
“I’ve said before that this team has become a second family to me, and our ambition and motivation has only grown every year. It’s a great honor to win our first drivers’ title with them at the end of this season , and bring it into their twelfth year together.
Neuville will face the Acropolis Rally between Thursday and Sunday, the tenth scoring event and one of the toughest of the event, with a 27-point advantage over the eight-time French champion. Sebastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris), determined to add its ninth title.
Neuville has competed at the Acropolis five times, and with one victory, in 2022. The Belgian led this year’s championship from the first race, the Monte Carlo Rallyand remains focused on securing his first title after being runner-up five times.
“We are still leading the fight for the championship, so it is important to score as many points as possible without pushing too hard and risking the whole weekend. Our car is strong and we usually perform well in Greece, so expect We hope that we will be able to do the same this year”, said Neuville in statements released by the organizers of the World Cup.
Neuville has teammates in Greece with Estonian Ott Tänak and the Spaniard Dani Sordowhich faces its third participation of the season after its fifth place in Portugal and third in Italy-Sardinia. The Cantabrian was third in the last two editions of the Acropolis.
Dani Sordo, with confidence
“I have a lot of confidence in this rally,” said Sordo. “We will do everything we can to help the team in this important part of the season. I hope to be as high as possible in Greece,” he added.
Along with Ogier, the Toyota team includes British Elfyn Evans, fourth in the World Championship, and Japanese Takamoto Katsuta.
Ogier, who retired from the Acropolis last year with broken suspension, has no illusions about what awaits him: “Last year we were leading until we had bad luck in some very difficult conditions: this could be the kind of rally where you need a bit of luck to stay out of trouble.” The Frenchman has won rallies in Croatia, Portugal and Finland this year.
The M-Sport Ford team has at the Acropolis the Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux, currently fifth in the championship after adding four podiums so far this year; the Luxembourger Grégoire Munster and the Greek Jourdan Serderidis.
The Acropolis Rally is held on the hard and rocky tracks of the mountains north of Athens and under high temperatures. It has been a World Championship classic since it debuted in the inaugural season of the championship, in 1973. It starts on Friday and is divided into fifteen stages and is timed at 305.30 km.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
