Its been confirmed that Evgeny Novikov and Thierry Neuville will join Mads Ostberg and Nasser Al-Attiyah, to contest all 13 rounds of next year’s World Rally Championship as part of the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team.

Photo:D.Darrall

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson said. “Both Evgeny and Thierry were strong candidates since negotiations began. They are young, but they have both shown some real maturity this year, combining obvious speed with a determination to finish all of the events and gain as much knowledge of the stages as possible. Both have regularly challenged the factory drivers, and their 2012 results were thoroughly deserved. I am confident that both drivers have more to prove and that we will see more impressive performances from them in 2013.

“We have a young team for next year, but this by no means detracts from their ability to produce some strong results. All of them, Mads, Evgeny and Thierry, proved their worth in 2012 and, with guidance from Nasser, they can all be fantastic ambassadors for Qatar, M-Sport and the WRC.”

Evgeny Novikov: “I am very glad to be representing Qatar and M-Sport next year. I would like to express huge gratitude to all those who supported me and believed in me: my mentor Mikhail Lepekhov, Malcolm Wilson, my family and my fans. In 2013 we will fight at the top level and do our best to please those who have supported us all these years.”

Thierry Neuville: “It is a great honour for me to represent Qatar and M-Sport on all 13 rounds of next season’s championship. Thanks to a great ‘learning’ year in the WRC, I am confident that I will be able to achieve some great results alongside M-Sport and my new team mates. I would especially like to thank Malcolm for his confidence in me, and also my friend Nasser for his fantastic support. I am now focussed on preparing for Rally Monte-Carlo and really looking forward to the start of this new adventure.”