2025 WRC News & Rumours

[Andre Oliveira]

Pic by IMI

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Will we see the same Neuville now he’s world champion ?

From hunter to the hunted, will Thierry's approach change in 2025 ?

DirtFish spoke to him to find out...

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/will-...orld-champion/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

No-one with any comments on this ?

Well I think Neuville will feel under pressure despite now being a World Champion. This is due to the Rovanpera returning. If Kalle wins the Title again it may make fans feel like Neuville's win was because Kalle wasnt there full-time in 2024. Neuville will really want to win it again to prove he is truly worthy.

[AE1WRC]

I feel exactly the same way. Neuville so far has failed to challenge Kalle properly. Let's see if he can defend his title. Defending is more difficult than winning for the first time. Only 6 drivers in the history have done this.

With Rovanpera returning, Thierry for sure will not feel the same excitement that he had when he was fighting against Evans or Tanak last year. In contrast, it will be more stressful for him to be the hunted because Kalle is coming for him.

If somehow Thierry defends, I will put him ahead of Kalle in my all time ranking.

[Krigen]

My prediction is Kalle will crash a lot this year, starting in MC then another one in Sweden .. rom there we will see

[focus206]

I don't think Neuville will feel more pressure this year, I think in 2024 it was the biggest pressure for him, it was "now or never". He achieved his goal of being world champion, anything that comes after is a plus. I think he might enjoy it more and I doubt he'll think "if I don't beat Kalle, people will think I'm not a worthy champion", Neuville already had to beat former world champions to get the 2024 title. I don't know how enjoying it more will translate to results though.

If Kalle won't make many mistakes, he should become a 3 times champion in my opinion. But I see it being more fought than in 2022 and 2023, with Hyundai not being a garbage can on wheels, Neuville and Tanak should be able to put up a fight.

[EstWRC]

Interesting comment from Fourmaux

Fourmaux believes the i20 N is easier to drive now that hybrid power has been removed from the car as per the new 2025 technical regulations.
“We have lost a lot of weight so the handling of the car is easier and nicer [to] drive, but we have lost some power for sure, and drivers always want more power,” he added.

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...-car/10689240/

[AE1WRC]

I don't think Neuville will feel more pressure this year, I think in 2024 it was the biggest pressure for him, it was "now or never". He achieved his goal of being world champion, anything that comes after is a plus. I think he might enjoy it more and I doubt he'll think "if I don't beat Kalle, people will think I'm not a worthy champion", Neuville already had to beat former world champions to get the 2024 title. I don't know how enjoying it more will translate to results though.

If Kalle won't make many mistakes, he should become a 3 times champion in my opinion. But I see it being more fought than in 2022 and 2023, with Hyundai not being a garbage can on wheels, Neuville and Tanak should be able to put up a fight.

That is right. I hope we see a good title fight. If we see another domination (not talking about a particular driver) it would be very boring. We want head to head battles like Loeb vs Gronholm in 2007 for example.