Central European Rally 2024, Sunday’s Report

Onto the final day then and with 54km’s over the four stages what would the outcome be at the end of the eighteenth stage? Adrien and Alex returned to the action and would open the road.

First stage then of the day, SS15 Am Hochwald 1 – 12.17 km and we had a change for the lead as Adrien was fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. There was drama for Seb and even more for his teammate Sami. The Frenchman slid off the road and after a little detour rejoined the road and completed the stage with the seventh fastest time. However, for Sami, there was even more drama, as he slid wide, and the front of the Yaris dug in and made the car roll a few times. He was out for the rest of the day. A big shame after a very accomplished first drive on asphalt in the Yaris Rally1. In terms of the lead change, Ott was now in the lead ahead of Seb by just 1.9 seconds and Elfyn a further 5.3 seconds back.

Onto SS16 Passauer Land 1 – 14.87 km Takamoto was fastest from Seb and Ott in this one. The Frenchman closed the gap a little in this one to Ott with the Estonians lead just 1.5 with two stages left.

Next up was SS17 Am Hochwald 2 – 12.17 km and it was a third different stage winner as Elfyn won this one from Ott and Takamoto. However, there was drama again for Toyota as Seb lost the rear of his Yaris and ended up spinning and then collided head on with a telegraph pole. There was large damage to caused and live images showed Seb out of the car.

The final stage then SS18 Passauer Land 2[Power Stage] – 14.87 km and Takamoto set the benchmark which no-one could beat. The rest of the power stage points went to Andreas, Elfyn, Thierry and Adrien. Ott and Martin took their second win of the year and twenty-first of their career. This also meant that they had outscored their teammates and championship rivals and confirmation that the driver’s world championship will be taken by a Hyundai crew.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Classification – Central European Rally

1	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	2:37:34.6
2	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+7.0
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+39.8
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:21.0
5	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:41.9
6	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+9:17.6
7	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Škoda Fabia RS	+9:34.1
8	F. Mares	R. Bucha	Toyota GR Yaris	+11:41.5
9	M. Marczyk	S. Gospodarczyk	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:10.6
10	K. Kajetanovicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:20.3

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“The rally was really intense – demanding from the get-go, with four drivers so close together and never more than ten seconds apart. The conditions were never easy, and although today was the best weather wise yet it was still challenging and unpredictable. I fought very hard with Seb and really tried to push today to secure the win. There is still hope for our drivers’ championship campaign but the manufacturers’ standings is very close with Toyota, so we have a big fight ahead of us in Japan.”

Thierry Neuville

“Overall, it has been a good weekend. Obviously, we came here with the hopes of winning the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in Germany, and a lot of supporters came down to line the stages to live an incredible moment with us, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Nevertheless, it was a good operation for the team, and we only lost two points to Toyota. Going to Rally Japan with 225 points is a comfortable lead, but we still need a trouble-free rally and a reliable car, especially on Sunday, to get through and hopefully secure the well-deserved titles.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Result wise, this is not what we expected from this weekend. We had a crash on Friday, but otherwise there are a lot of positives to take from Central European Rally as well. Our speed overall when we were pushing has been close to the front, and the Power Stage was definitely the highlight. It’s a big step forward since Croatia; our feeling with the car was completely different, I felt at one with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid on tarmac and really enjoyed driving it.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been a bad weekend for us. Together with Scott we come away as the crew that scored the most points and we have to be somewhat satisfied about that and it’s good for the team. Maybe we were not always setting the stage times alight, but we had some strong moments, and it was quite a consistent weekend. We were missing a little bit here and there but we’re here at the end in second place and we can be reasonably happy with that. In terms of manufacturers’ points we took a little hit today unfortunately, but it wasn’t bad on that side so at least we’re still in the game and it’s all open for Rally Japan.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I want to say a huge thanks to the team for the incredible support they gave me through some difficult moments in the last two months. It’s been a very tough season for myself, so I felt a lot of pressure to do a good job here, but we are able to do it with full points on Super Sunday and the Power Stage as well as fourth overall. I was really enjoying the driving and the feeling in the car, and I’m really happy to finish the rally with this result. Of course, we have still one rally to go at Rally Japan and I will try to do my best there together with the team. We never give up and we keep pushing.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I feel really very sorry for the team for what happened today. In this penultimate stage the first corner going under the trees was much muddier than I anticipated, and I just understeered wide and hit the tree on the outside. The route note, crews did not have the chance to pass through this stage before us so I didn’t have the information in my notes, but this is no excuse because I’m behind the wheel and the other drivers didn’t make the same mistake. Right now, I feel very disappointed, especially for the team because it could have been a strong weekend for us. It’s been three rallies in a row where we clearly have the speed but not the result at the end. Thanks to Elfyn and Taka we still have a chance in the championship at Rally Japan and we will try our best again there.”

Sami Pajari

“In the first stage today, I went a bit wide on one corner and we were maybe a bit unlucky to roll so easily, but it was my mistake. It’s a pity and I’m sorry for the team. I just need to learn from this, understand what happened and be better in the future. Up to then, the rally had been really nice for us, every day was really clean, and there was clear development through the weekend. I got quite a nice feeling with the car and did some decent stage times, and most importantly we learned a lot. These three rallies in the Rally1 car have been really amazing, a dream come true for me, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Now I look forward to doing my best at Rally Japan in WRC2.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“A tricky weekend with the weather conditions, and the different types of stages, but all in all we didn’t do too badly. We improved the set-up of the car in different conditions, and we worked a lot towards Japan as well, so it’s all positive things. A top-five result, at the end, which equals our top-five result in Sardinia, makes it quite a positive weekend overall.”

William Creighton

“A tricky rally, so I’m glad we didn’t have any major issues and have gained the experience. It’s been amazing to compete in my first WRC2 season, I have learnt a lot! Thank you to the MI Rally Academy, M-Sport and everyone else for making it possible.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“We went to CER on an impulse. Very limited preparation, no hybrid… we hoped for a cool weekend and a Top 20 finish. Actually, it was not exactly cool, especially in technique, but we enjoyed a lot Saturday and Sunday. And we achieved the target. Fantastic ambiance inside the team. It will be full of good memories…!”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Just a difficult Friday and Saturday with some technical issues, it’s not the result we would expect after winning the rally last year in the RC2 category. The good point is that after we fixed the car on Saturday evening, we clinched the first fastest time of the day and third overall on Super Sunday, with one extra point for the Power Stage. So at least we showed some good pace on the Sunday.”

Summary

Well, we had a very exciting and dramatic rally with a number of different leaders. Thierry led early on before he went off the road on Saturday, then Ott and Seb both had their times as leaders before the Frenchman’s unusual mistake.

The Estonian duo took a well-deserved victory, bringing them back into championship contention. Now the gap is a not insignificant twenty-five points and this would need Thierry and Martijn to suffer quite a bad result at the final round for the 2019 world champions to take their second title.

Elfyn and Scott showed again why they should always be considered as one of the best crews in the championship with a great fight at the front. The Welshman is always really hard on himself and yet does not always give himself credit with how good he is. With the result he took here, he’s taken third in the championship standings again.

Thierry and Martijn could have taken the title this weekend, but a mistake put them out of the lead meaning that the title will be decided in Japan, late November. They still have one hand on the trophy. Let’s see what happens next month.

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 12

1	T. Neuville	225
2	O. Tänak	200
3	E. Evans	185
4	S. Ogier	166
5	A. Fourmaux	146
6	K. Rovanpera	114
7	T. Katsuta	102
8	D. Sordo	44
9	S. Pajari	41
10	G. Munster	37

 

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 12

1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	526
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	511
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	267

 

One final round remains then, Rally Japan from the 21^st to the 24^th of November.