Central European Rally 2024, Day One Report

The first full day of action in the stages on the Czech roads and with the added dimension and challenge of no mid-day service.

After the two first stages on Thursday the top three positions were held by Seb from the two Hyundai teammates Thierry and Andreas.

The first stage then, SS3 Klatovy 2 – 11.78 km and Seb was fastest from Takamoto and Elfyn. The Japanese driver moved up one position into third overall, pushing Ott down to fourth. It was close at the top with just 5.3 seconds covering the top five!

Next up was SS4 Strašín 1 – 26.69 km and Elfyn was fastest from Thierry and Ott. The Welshman’s pace took him up two positions and into third overall, now just eight tenths of a second from the leader. In fact, the gap between the top five had reduced to 4.4 seconds.

Onto SS5 Šumavské Hoštice 1 – 16.85 km and Ott took this one from Thierry and Seb and it was all change again at the top of the leaderboard, with Thierry now into the lead, from Seb and Ott. Elfyn and Takamoto we now in fourth and fifth. There was drama with Andreas sadly as his Hyundai understeered wide on a left-hander and hit a fence on the exit of a corner. He was out for the rest of the day.

The penultimate morning stage then of the day, SS6 Klatovy 3 – 11.78 km which unusually was a third run through this stage was won by Takamoto from Thierry and Seb. Thierry was starting to build a small gap over Seb in their battle over the lead.

After the remote service next up was SS7 Strašín 2 – 26.69 km and Thierry was fastest from Elfyn and Ott. The Belgian had increased his lead over Seb who was fourth fastest and 3.6 behind the championship leaders.

The final stage then, SS8 Šumavské Hoštice 2 – 16.85 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. There was the added element of some rain falling in the stage and the Belgian and French crews had the best of the conditions.

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

Classification after Day One

1	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	1:04:40.0
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+6.4
3	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+7.8
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+15.1
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+38.6
6	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:28.2
7	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:33.4
8	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+2:27.4
9	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+3:53.3
10	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Škoda Fabia RS	+3:56.4

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I think everyone could see my smile at the end of the last stage today! I was happy to have had a good day and finish where we are. The Czech stages had the most tricky and challenging conditions of the weekend with the weather and the fog we had in the morning, so I am very pleased with how the day went. I felt comfortable in the car, the speed and confidence was there, and it was an interesting battle on the stages. We want to take these positives into tomorrow, where we will face a completely different type of profile, so there might be a job to do to adapt the car to these conditions. We are in the fight, it’s super close so we have to keep our rhythm and continuing driving well.”

Ott Tänak

“Altogether a positive day. It was very demanding, especially in the forest stages, but I actually enjoyed them a lot. The trickier the conditions, the better the car was behaving, but on the more circuit-like roads I was losing a couple of sections. Overall, it felt good. It’s critical we keep a good rhythm tomorrow and stay inside the boundaries. We need to push hard – it’s very tight between he four of us at the front. Tomorrow’s roads have lots of junctions but are pretty fast at the same time; during the recce, they looked pretty clean with a lot of anti-cuts, so I believe they will be more consistent than the stages we had today. It’s about going fast, and we will try to make the most out of it.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I’m disappointed we couldn’t finish today. We had very tricky conditions this morning. On SS5, it was difficult through the whole stage, but I still tried to keep a good pace. On a left-hand corner, there was less grip than I expected, and we understeered, running wide into the fence. Sadly, the damage to the car was too much to continue, but we hope to be back out tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“I think today has been a positive first full day for us. We know the conditions here can be difficult when you don’t start right at the front, but the organisers have done a good job with the anti-cut devices to help this and give us a good battle so far between the top cars. This morning there were two little overshoots which cost us some seconds, and in SS5 we expected to lose time because there was more dirt and a lot of leaves on the road. This afternoon, we lost a few seconds towards the end of SS7 which was frustrating, but in the last one we took more risk and managed to stay close to the lead tonight. So, we’re in the fight for the win and we’ll try our best tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been an OK day for us overall. It was a little bit up and down: some stages were really good, and others were a little bit average. This morning the grip was very changeable, it was quite damp in the two longer stages, and there were sections that did get a bit dirtier with passing cars. After remote service this afternoon, the following stage went quite well but in the last stage we seemed to drop quite a lot of time, especially in the dirty sections, so I’m a bit frustrated with that. Tomorrow, we expect the stages to be a bit cleaner and the profile changes a bit as well, so we’ll focus on adapting to that.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Overall, it went pretty well today. The conditions were difficult in some stages, but the car was working well, and I had good confidence. I just followed what I had planned before the rally: when the conditions were more consistent, I could push, and when they were not I just backed off a bit. Of course, that meant that I sacrificed some time, but I would say it was quite a clever drive. Now I have to try and keep this position until the end of the rally. Tomorrow will hopefully be cleaner but I’m sure it will still be tricky. I just need to stay focused and do my best.”

Sami Pajari

“I think I have been able to enjoy today more than I was expecting. To be without hybrid since the first stage this morning was a bit of a pity, not so much in terms of result because I am not focused on that this weekend, but it could have been nice to compare my times more to the other drivers to know where I’m at. Still, the feeling in the car has been quite nice, it’s been a clean day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when our road position should be better, and the stages should also be cleaner. I’ll just try to have a good flow and enjoy the stages.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It was quite a tricky day today. The grip was changing a lot and when it’s like this, it’s really not so easy to take the confidence from the car.

“I made some set-up changes, trying to get the best grip from the car in these conditions – but at the same time, when it’s dry you need it to be a bit more racey. It’s hard to take the confidence in the driving when it’s like this.

“We will go again tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to the roads in Germany and Austria and to see so many people out enjoying a fantastic atmosphere is something special. The car’s been great with no technical issues, I just need to dial my driving into these conditions a bit more.

“Like always with the Škoda, I’m having a lot, a lot of fun with the car and me and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] enjoyed the day.”

Saturday

Tomorrow’s action sees the crews tackle 123km’s over six stages. Thierry is in the driving seat for this season’s championship, but let’s see what the positions are at the end of Saturday.