Thierry Neuville has won the BFGoodrich Drivers Team prize for the 2009 Ypres Rally after a vote was taken by a panel of 19 Belgium journalists.

The Belgian youngster defeated Melissa Debackere by two votes to win the opportunity to drive a Kronos Peugeot 207 S2000 on his home IRC event.

Of the five shortlisted finalists Neuville received 8 votes to Debackere's 6. Young Flemish hope Matthias Boon was next up with 3 votes. Pieter Tsjoen got 2 and Bertrand Grooten didn't receive any votes.

Thierry Neuville, who will be 21 years old on June 16, is a representative of the RACB national rally team. He is also leading the Citroën Benelux Racing Trophy in a C2 R2 Max and has previously contested the Fiesta Sporting Trophy in Belgium which he won. Experts consider him to be a future François Duval.

The BFGoodrich Drivers Team programme gives drivers a chance to contest their home round of the IRC in a BFGoodrich-equipped Peugeot 207 S2000. Drivers are selected by a panel of journalists from the country concerned.

Last January saw the BFGoodrich Drivers Team car win the celebrated Rallye Monte-Carlo in the hands of Sébastien Ogier. In 2008, Patrick Snijers took the BFGoodrich Drivers Team Peugeot to fifth overall in Ypres.

Neuville testing his C2 R2 Max recently

Thierry Neuville Profile:

HOME: Hünningen 4a B-4780 St.Vith

NATIONALITY: Belgian

DATE OF BIRTH: 16/06/1988

MARITAL STATUS: Single

LANGUAGES: German/French/English

HIGHT: 1,85m

WEIGHT: 83kg

JOB: CNC Programmer/Operator

HOBBIES: Karting/ Quad/ Fitness/Music

FIRST RALLY: Rallye of Luxembourg-September 2007

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Winner of Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy-Rallye-Contest 2008

                                 First Trophy win: Rallye Wallonie 2008
                                 Test-Driver C2R2MAX for CITROEN-RACING  

Similar Posts:

• Thierry Neuville sorry for Ypres misdemeanour
• Neuville / Tsjoen Kronos test Belgium Ypres Rally – video clip
• Thierry Neuville – Rally de Espana 2009 – Preview

About the Author

Scott Coursey is the editor-in-chief of RallyBuzz.com and can be found on Twitter or on Facebook