Gilsoul had been co-driving for Neuville in the WRC since 2012, winning 13 rallies with his fellow Belgian – including last year’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the pairing having been expected to defend their title next week (21-24 Jan).

However, catching the rallying world by surprise on Friday morning (15 Jan), Neuville announced on his social media channels at 09:30 CET  that he will start the 2021 season with Martin Wydaeghe, who has competed in WRC support categories, most recently contesting seven rallies in WRC 2 in 2019, reading the notes for Guillaume de Mevius.

Neuville provided a statement on Friday, explaining: “We couldn’t find an agreement with Nicolas for this new season so we decided to stop our cooperation.

We have great memories together and I want to thank him for his work during the last ten years. Now it’s time to focus on Rally Monte-Carlo and we are working hard with Martjin to get ready although it will be a very challenging event for both of us.”