Ott Tänak drove out, Thierry Neuville is the world champion

Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville has won the rally car world championship for the first time in his career.

The Belgian’s championship was secured right away at Sunday morning’s opening special test in Japan, when his teammate Ott Tänak drove off the road and lost his chance at the title.

Neuville was already considered the eternal runner-up in the World Championship, as the man had no less than five World Championship silvers under his belt before the last rally season.

“I am speechless. I didn’t expect it to happen like this. I got a call from my assistant, who never calls me in the middle of a race. I heard a lot of shouting in the background and realized what had happened. Now there is no more pressure, so we can just focus on enjoying,” Neuville said before the last two special stages of the race.

“Surely this will only get better as long as we understand properly what has happened.”

Neuville left 25 points ahead of Tänak for the season-ending race and Sunday’s exit mean the fact that Tänak can no longer catch up with Neuville in terms of total points, even if he doesn’t even finish the race.

Tänak was leading Japan’s World Rally Championship when he skidded off a narrow forest road early Sunday morning in central Japan’s Aichi Prefecture.

According to the news agency AFP, Tänak sat with his kart after the outing Martin Järveojan next to him before unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car.

Neither Tänak nor Järveoja were injured in the run-out. Tänak described the situation as surprising them.

Going out today with Jari-Matti Latvala led by Toyota had a chance to become the champion of manufacturers. And the team used that opportunity.

Toyota and Hyundai went to the last special test with equal points. He took the decisive role Sebastien Ogierwho beat Neuville and led Toyota to the championship by only three points.

The team manager Latvala’s pressure was released as a joyful venting, and the man’s heart rate did not seem to drop when it was time to open his feelings.

After the nerve-wracking decision, Latvala was on top of his luck. He said that he believed that the solution would only happen at the last special exam.

“It was horrible to watch. This has certainly been the most terrible special test of my career”, Latvala sighed after the title was decided in an interview with the WRC series.

“This is a huge relief. The season has been quite a rollercoaster. We told the drivers that we will fight until the end. We fought and won. This was a never-ending battle. You always have to keep fighting until the last meter. You must not lose faith.”

Sami Pajari drove Enni Mälkonen with WRC2 class champions. The title was the first for the 22-year-old Toyota driver.

Story updated at 8:30 a.m.: Added information about the decision of the team championship.