Thierry & Nicolas
Thierry & Nicolas
Thierry Neuville first came into the rally spotlight in after he secured a first career win in 2008 at the RACB Rally Content, a Belgian competition to find the next best young rally driver. His career continued in this vein of success when in 2010 he claimed his first class win in his rookie season at the Junior World Rally Championship.
Destined for rally’s biggest stage, Thierry was snapped up as driver in the WRC in 2012. He later came on board for the debut season of the new Hyundai Shell World Rally Team in 2014, scoring the team’s maiden victory that year at Rally Deutschland ahead of teammate, Dani Sordo. Alongside co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, Thierry finished runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship in 2019.
Nicolas Gilsoul first began competing in regional driving events in 2000 and has since been enamoured by the world of rally. He made his international debut in 2004 and later entered the World Rally Championship in 2007. The Belgian currently acts as Thierry Neuville’s co-driver for the Hyundai Motorsport Team, a position he has held since 2011.
Nicolas helped secure Hyundai Motorsport’s first ever WRC victory at Rally Deutschland in 2014. He also finished second in the WRC in 2018 & 2019 alongside Neuville.
Dani & Carlos
Dani & Carlos
Dani’s first experience of motorsport came on two wheels racing in motocross when he was just 12 years old. After briefly experimenting in motorbikes, Dani decided to trade in two wheels for four and landed in the exciting rally. Born in Torrelavegga, Spain, Dani’s first break into the WRC came in 2003 competing in the Rally Catalunya. His maiden win came 10 years later at Rally Deutschland before he then joined the Hyundai Motorsport team. His co-driver is fellow Spaniard Carlos del Barrio.
Dani is now recognised as one of the more experienced and consistent members on the rally circuit, having entered over 150 rallies in total securing upwards 40 podium finishes in his career to date.
Carlos del Barrio has extensive rallying experience, first entering the sport in 1987 but it was 1994 when he took his maiden steps into the WRC. After much success, Carlos joined forces with young compatriot Dani Sordo in 2004.
After a break, the pair returned to share a car in 2011 resulting in three podiums and victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. The duo came back will participate in selected events with Hyundai Motorsport.
Sebastien & Daniel
Sebastien & Daniel
One of the most successful drivers in the history of WRC, Sébastien Loeb has won nine WRC titles in an illustrious career. Originally a gymnast in his youth, Loeb switched his interests to motorsport in the mid-nineties and would go on to dominate the sport. His first WRC victory came in Germany in 2002 and his extraordinary run of championship titles began in 2004. Loeb initially retired from WRC in 2013 but sensationally returned in 2018. The legendary driver joined the Hyundai Motorsport team in 2019 for a six-rally campaign.
Daniel Elena is the most successful co-driver in WRC history, thanks to his 79 victories alongside Sébastien Loeb. Daniel became a co-driver in 1997 and quickly formed a partnership with Sebastien. The two shared early success and quickly moved up to World Rally Championship class. 2002 would mark the beginning of one of the most successful periods in the history of the sport, they secured their first win in Germany and narrowly missed out on the title by a single point the following year. 2004 saw the beginning of an incredible run of nine consecutive titles. Daniel returned to WRC in 2019 along with Sebastian for six events competing for Hyundai Motorsport.
Ott & Martin
Ott made his WRC debut at Portugal in 2009, before moving into a full season campaign the following year. He was quick to show his potential, scoring a debut podium in the penultimate round of the year in Sardinia. 2017 was his breakthrough season in the sport, as he claimed a debut victory in Sardinia, and followed that up with a win in Germany. He was crowned WRC Drivers’ Champion in 2019 with five victories. A new chapter begins in 2020 as he, along with co-driver Martin, joins Hyundai Motorsport to compete in all rounds as defending title holders.
Making his rally debut as a co-driver in 2003, Martin gained plenty of experience at motorsport events in his home country making is WRC debut in 2010 with Karl Kruuda at Rally Jordan. He began working with Ott Tänak in 2016, winning his first-ever event in Rally Italia Sardegna in 2017. Since 2018 the crew have had multiple wins a triumphant season in 2019 saw them take the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ titles.
