Like any story, everything has a beginning. Those of Thierry Neuville in the world of rallying go back to 2006 and 2007 with a small Opel Corsa A GSi. As most of the protagonists affirm, the first car is always the most special.
Very soon, the Belgian driver would begin to show his talent in the European Championship with a Citroën C2 R2 Max. He would soon make the leap to a top car at the time like the Peugeot 207 S2000. Then came Ford, Hyundai … And the story we all know, whose ultimate goal is to achieve the World Rally Championship.
But in this article we are going to stay with the Opel Corsa, a car that Neuville recovered several years later, and with which he now flies through the stages of his native Belgium. The WRC website has made an interesting report to to narrate curiosities about the history of this car.
The recovery, once located, occurred twelve years later. The external appearance was identical to that of that time. However, the important changes would come in the mechanical part. They mounted a kit-car engine that offered a power of 210 horsepower, in addition to a six-speed sequential gearbox
The Hyundai Motorsport driver re-released the small German car at the 2018 Legend Boucles à Bastogne, an exhibition event for classic mounts on his land, in which he repeated last year. “We went and had a lot of fun showing the car to the fans”, Neuville tells wrc.com.
Neuville’s first victory with the Corsa, and last so far, came in 2019, with the Rallye des Crêtes. The WRC driver demonstrated his skills, winning the test against superior cars such as R5, Porsches or Mitsubishi.
