Thierry Neuville´s former co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul will be making his co-driver return at the 68th edition of the Rallye Sanremo in Italy on 10/11 April. It will be his first work as a co-driver this year after his split-up with Neuville a couple of days before the season-opener of the FIA World Rally Championship at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Gilsoul will this time be the co-driver for the France´s Paul-Antoine Santoni in a Volkswagen Polo R5. For Santoni it will be his first start for over a year, his last appearance was in the French national rally championship at the 2019 Rallye National di u Paese.
Neuville and Gilsoul have been a great pair for ten years, and Gilsoul got replaced by Martijn Wydaeghe just ahead of the start of Monte-Carlo. Neuville has admitted his new co-driver has had issues with the communication but despite that the pair is currently in second place in driver´s standings after two rounds.
“I am pleased to announce my participation on [Rally Sanremo from] April 10-11 alongside the talented Corsican rider [Santoni] in charge of a VW Polo GTI R5,” Gilsoul said on his social medias.
“This will be an opportunity for me to dive back in the bath after the unwarranted break-up of the collaboration with Thierry Neuville. I’ve been using the past few weeks to reflect positively on my future in motorsport and maintain my condition so that I can take any opportunity, comforted by the countless amount of support and encouragement directed at me. That’s why I’ve taken the departure of this test with enthusiasm and determination. As always.”
