Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian
rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for
Thierry Neuville
Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–201 ...
.
wrc.com; accessed 30 November 2015.
Career
After competing in regional events from 2000, Gilsoul made his international debut in 2003 when co-driving with
Bruno Thiry
Bruno Thiry (born 8 October 1962) is a Belgian rally driver. He was born in St. Vith, Liège Province.
He began his career as an amateur in 1981, driving a Simca, and quickly became very successful in the Belgian Rally Championship. by 1991 ...
. He made his debut in the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
in 2007.
Gilsoul started working with Thierry Neuville in 2011 and competed in the
2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In 2012, Gilsoul co-drove for Neuville in the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
.
The pair went on to drive for the
Qatar World Rally Team
The Qatar World Rally Team is a Qatari World Rally Championship team, based in Cumbria, United Kingdom.
History
They made their debut at the 2012 Rally of Sweden, entering a single Citroën DS3 WRC for Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovann ...
in 2013 and they were a surprise runners-up in the championship after seven podiums from 13 events.
Gilsoul and Neuville made the switch to the newly created rally team
Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai Motorsport GmbH (HMSG) is a division of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company responsible for the brand's global motorsport activities. The company was established in December 2012 and is based in Alzenau, Germany.
Their principa ...
in 2014.
He won his first rally in the WRC that year, winning the
2014 Rallye Deutschland
The 2014 ADAC Rallye Deutschland was the ninth round of the 2014 World Rally Championship season. The event was based in Trier, Germany, and started on 22 August and finished on 24 August after eighteen special stages, totaling 324.3 competitive ...
, famously after rolling their
World Rally Car
A World Rally Car is a racing automobile built to the specific regulations set by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and designed for competition in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The cars were introduced in 1997 as a repl ...
at the pre-event
shakedown
Shakedown may refer to:
* Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation
* Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational
* Extortion, ...
.
Gilsoul continued co-driving for Neuville in Hyundai Motorsport and went on to win a further twelve events together.
They were runners-up in the championship between 2016 and 2019.
In 2021, right before the season start in the
2021 Monte Carlo Rally, it was announced that Neuville and Gilsoul had stopped their co-operation. Gilsoul was eventually replaced by
Martijn Wydaeghe
Martijn Wydaeghe (born 1 September 1992) is a Belgian rallying co-driver. He is partnered with Thierry Neuville for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship category.
Rally career
Wydaeghe made his WRC debut at the 2013 Rallye de Fran ...
as Neuville's co-driver.
Gilsoul made a return to the co-driving seat in April that year, now for French privateer
Paul-Antoine Santoni at the Italian Rally championship round in
Rallye Sanremo Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rall ...
.
WRC victories
Career results
WRC results
* Season still in progress.
References
External links
WRC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilsoul, Nicolas
1982 births
Living people
Belgian rally co-drivers
Place of birth missing (living people)
World Rally Championship co-drivers