Patience rewards Thierry Neuville, the first Belgium driver to win World Rally Championship

Formula 1 is not the only FIA championship that saw a winner last weekend. World Rally Championship (WRC) ended with the Rally Japan, and saw 36-year-old Thierry Neuville win his first driver's championship title.

He, and his co-pilot Martijn Wydaeghe, are the first Belgian WRC winners ever. They win with 242 points, above Elfyn Evans (Great Britain, 210 points) and Ott Tänak (Estonia, 200 points). Hyundai, Neuville's team, lost the manufacturer's standings by just three points to Toyota.

The title has been decided in the thirteenth and final race of the tournament. Despite a 25-point leverage, Tanak also had chances of winning, but he crashed during the race, paving the way for this veteran driver to win the tournament.

Thierry Neuville had been expecting this for a long time. He has been driving since 2009, and finished WRC as runner-up five times.

"I am feeling great to be honest, we worked so long for this," said Neuville. "I don't have the words, but I want to thank everybody who was part of it, who fought for us and all of the team as well. We were many times very close; we always give it our all, but this year we have been rewarded for it."