Warren Nel

The final day then of the rally and of the season. What would the day hold? Andreas would again open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS17 Nukata 1 – 20.23 km and Andreas made the best of the cleaner road conditions winning the stage from Elfyn and Thierry. However, there was huge drama as Ott and Martin came into the final kilometre of the stage and went wide on a right-hander. The result of this was that they crashed out from the lead of the rally. There were celebrations with the two Hyundai crews that had finished the stage. Of course, there didn’t seem to be much disappointment with the situation after the crash their teammates suffered as we saw in the

Next up was SS18 Lake Mikawako 1 – 13.98 km the first run of the later to run power stage. Thierry took the stage win from Andreas and Adrien. The Belgian came to the stop line and was of course delighted to have it confirmed that he’d taken the title. However, it was sad to not hear any acknowledgment of the situation with his teammate crashing out.

Onto SS19 Nukata 2 – 20.23 km and Thierry again was fastest from Seb and Andreas. The Belgian and Frenchman set an identical time on this one. Amazing! The top three remained Elfyn, Seb and Adrien.

The following stage was the third time during the weekend which the 2.15km stadium stage was run and as mentioned previously in my view is not rallying.

We came therefore to the final stage, SS21 Lake Mikawako 2[Power Stage] – 13.98 km. Andreas was the guy setting the rally1 pace and slid wide on a corner leading to some damage to the right-hand front bumper and the headlamp was gone as well. The stage result was making things interesting as the manufacturers championship was up for either Hyundai or Toyota to win. Ultimately Seb would be fastest from Thierry, Elfyn, Takamoto and Andreas. The points scored in the powerstage meant that Toyota would take the title. It was also great to see Elfyn and Scott take victory in this final round.

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

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:23:41.0
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:27.3
3	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:55.5
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:02.6
5	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:11.5
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+6:54.1
7	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+10:04.3
8	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris	+11:50.8
9	H. Arai	S. Matsuo	Škoda Fabia	+13:24.3
10	G. Greensmith	J. Andersson	Škoda Fabia RS	+14:15.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a very exciting last day of Rally Japan and we’re delighted with the final result. It’s a very special event as a home rally for the team and I’m naturally very happy to win it again. With it I’m also really happy to contribute towards the manufacturers’ title: it means a lot for every member of the team and I’m proud to be a part of it. We maybe didn’t always have the performance we wanted during the whole weekend, but we kept trying until the end. I felt for Ott this morning as he had to push, and that opened up the opportunity for us, but it still wasn’t easy to bring it home and get the points we needed.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I think you could not have written a better finish to the season for us, with everything to play for on the final stage here in Japan. There was a lot of pressure, it was all or nothing in the Power Stage, and of course we are very delighted that we managed to produce this performance in this moment and clinch the title together with the team. Seeing the happy faces of everyone in the team, and of our chairman Morizo-san, is the best feeling and also good reward for all the effort that every team member has made during the season. It’s proof again of why we should never give up.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very tough season but at the end we were able to take back the manufacturers’ championship, and it’s such a great feeling. I had to be patient this weekend which has not been easy, but I managed to stay on the road and push in the Power Stage. The whole team did a fantastic job, and without their support I would not have been able to do it, so a huge thanks to them and to my team-mates. There were a lot of fans cheering for me this weekend. I’m sorry for them that it was not possible to take a podium myself this time, but thanks to them for their support as well.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“What a fantastic day. Words cannot describe how we are feeling. I think we deserved the title after such a challenging year. We had a lot more pressure than we would have liked coming to this final event, but we managed our weekend as best as we could with the problems we had. After the first stage and the titles were confirmed, we were able to relax a bit and push as hard as we could for the manufacturers’ fight. We went flat out with nothing to lose – we really wanted to bring home that crown for the team, as they really deserved it. Sadly, it wasn’t enough this time but everyone in the team should be incredibly proud of the work they have done this year.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After we decided to stop yesterday, we wanted to really prepare for today as best as possible. I think we did that well; we were very fast and fighting at the front, showing good speed and having a nice feeling in the car all day. I’m disappointed for the team as they really deserved the manufacturers’ title this year. Everyone has done such an amazing job, the car has been working well and very reliable all season, so it is tough to feel this title slip away from us. However, I am so happy for Thierry. I grew up with him and have raced him since we both started out in national rallying. Being good mates as well, I am really emotional seeing him clinch the title. I’m very proud of him.”

Ott Tänak

“It is difficult to describe what happened other than complete disaster. We weren’t expecting slippery conditions in the corner and as soon as we arrived, the front washed out. It was too far off the road to recover the car. While we are disappointed to end the season this way, we have to recognise what a great season this has been for Thierry. He has been very consistent, managing the pressure well, and he is a worthy champion.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“As we expected, it’s been a really challenging rally with really tricky conditions from the beginning. The conditions have been drying up all weekend, so where we have improved the pace we’ve been fighting for the podium.

“From Saturday morning it’s been a really nice fight with Takamoto Katsuta and Seb Ogier. It’s been really nice to end the season with another podium, my first one on Tarmac with the Ford Puma Rally1. It’s been a really great season for us, we always want more that’s for sure, but still we have some really nice positive results, so it’s been good for my comeback to Rally1.

“Thanks to everyone at M-Sport for the season, there’s been really great commitment from everybody, and we’ve had a great feeling from the start. Alex and I really appreciate the hard work from everyone.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m just happy to get back-to-back top five results and finish the season on a positive note. I think our pace on Saturday was really positive with a second-fastest time and two third-fastest times. At some points we struggled with the set-up of the car, but we always reacted quite well and managed to find solutions, so there was a lot of good learning for me as a driver working with engineers.

“It was a good way to finish the year and I just want to thank all the team for their hard work all throughout the season and for their guidance, it has helped me perform and learn a lot as a driver.”

Summary

Well, what an incredible weekend in Japan for the finale of the championship. It had everything, drama for the championship leader, position changes for the top three and a final day drama which led to Toyota taking the manufacturers title.

It was great to see Elfyn and Scott take their ninth victory, just a bit of a sad way for this to happen with Ott and Martin crashing out. However, this is motorsport, and it is often the way things happen.

For Seb and Vincent after their puncture on Friday, they showed amazing pace to take many stage wins and a deserved second overall.

For Adrien and Alex, a fantastic third place was deservedly theirs, their fifth of this season as well. They have a bright future whether they remain at M-Sport or move elsewhere. My personal view is that they should stay at Malcolm’s team, and they could take a first victory there.

Finally, a few words for Thierry and Martijn. They have had a great season and undoubtedly deserve the championship. However, the manner of their celebrations following their teammates crashing out and the lack of words from Thierry at the end of the following stage to acknowledge this as well show a driver that is selfish and appears to only care for himself.

The second full day of the rally would see the crews tackle 103km’s over seven stages. Andreas and Torstein would restart and open the road, but then the Hyundai team would swap him around with Thierry so the championship leader could open the road.

First up then was SS10 Mt. Kasagi 1 – 16.47 km and Elfyn was fastest from Ott and Gregoire. Thierry was on the move, gaining two positions. His i20 was back working properly and he set the fifth best time.

Next up was SS11 Nenoue Kougen 1 – 11.60 km and Thierry set the best time from Seb and Takamoto. The Japanese star gained a position moving ahead of Adrien and into third overall. Thierry was also gaining positions, now into twelfth place and just around 22 seconds from the points paying positions. The recovery drive was going well this morning.

The final stage before the tyre fitting zone, SS12 Ena 1 – 22.79 km saw the stage interrupted meaning that the top two, Ott and Elfyn did not start the stage along with the WRC2 runners. They were given a notional time, the same as Seb who’d set the fastest time. There was drama for Takamoto who had a spin in the stage, and he dropped down to fifth. He was one of the driver to complete the stage earlier before the interruption.

After the short break came SS13 Mt. Kasagi 2 – 16.47 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Adrien fell behind his fellow countryman Seb who passed him for third overall. Thierry was now in ninth overall and just three tenths of a second behind eighth placed Sami. Sadly, Elfyns’ pace had deserted him and after winning this stage earlier he could only manage the sixth best time. The Welshman reported understeer sapping his confidence in the corners.

Two proper stages remained the first being SS14 Nenoue Kougen 2 – 11.60 km and Thierry and Seb set an identical time on this one, with Takamoto third. Rally leader Ott was fourth in this one, but with his closest rival Elfyn sixth was still increasing his lead. Thierry was up another position and into eighth place.

The final proper stage then of Saturday’s action, SS15 Ena 2 – 22.79 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Adrien. The Frenchman’s pace allowed him to pull away from Takamoto. Meanwhile erstwhile championship leader Thierry had gained another position and was now seventh.

The final stage didn’t see any changes in position and at only 2.15km’s in a stadium is not really rallying anyway.

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

Classification after Day Two

1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:39:48.0 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +38.0 3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:10.9 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:19.1 5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:25.2 6 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:07.1 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +7:43.7 8 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +7:55.9 9 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris +9:21.2 10 H. Arai S. Matsuo Škoda Fabia +10:12.6

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“All the stages have been extremely demanding today, very slow in places and seemingly never-ending. At the same time, we’ve had changeable grip and a lot of surprises and some moments. While it’s been another tough day, we had something special in the second loop. Elfyn was definitely winding up this morning, but we were stronger this afternoon to end the day with things still in our favour. We’ve been on it all weekend so far and we will be again tomorrow: our main target is the manufacturers’ championship, and we want to achieve it. The Toyotas are very quick so we all need to give our best so we can hopefully bring it home.”

Thierry Neuville

“We’re satisfied that we’ve been able to catch seventh, which didn’t seem very realistic this morning. Of course, it could have been a much better weekend result, but I have faced many setbacks in my career, and I have learnt to stay calm and deal with the situation. I think we managed that very well today, considering we had everything to lose while others had a lot to gain. It could be a big day tomorrow, so we will cross our fingers and try to have a good night sleep, but there is still a fight, and we have to win some more points. Let’s see after a few stages tomorrow where we are and what we have to do.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After yesterday’s accident, we wanted to make sure that the car was working optimally after the repairs in service. We ran the morning loop to shakedown the car and ensure everything was working well. As we were happy with the performance and the speed this morning, we decided together with the team to withdraw from the afternoon loop in preparation for a big push tomorrow. There was nothing to be gained today but we have a big opportunity on Sunday to support the team in the manufacturers’ championship fight.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We made a pretty strong start this morning when the conditions were not easy, and we were hoping to keep the pressure on in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way. The feeling was not so bad in the car but we were struggling just a little bit in the slower speed sections and that was resulting in quite a big time loss. Things were OK in the faster places but there weren’t so many of them. So, we’re looking with the team tonight to understand it and try to put it right for tomorrow, when we need to give a final push and do what we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day for us. We were the fastest over the day with three stage wins, and we got back to the podium places to bank good points for the team, so I think there was not much more we could do. Of course, I would have loved even more but our chances in the manufacturers’ championship are still alive up until the last day of the season, and we need to give it everything. We just have to push for the maximum points from Sunday and hope for some luck on our side, and in rallying you never know what can happen.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s good to reach the end of today: this was one of the main targets for me. There were some difficulties during the day – I had a spin in the last stage of the morning and lost a few seconds there – but I felt some good feelings from the car as well, so I was able to set some good times. Overall, everything was OK. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for the team as well, so I just need to try and find even better feeling and focus on that.”

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 70km’s over five stages, including the overused 2.15km stadium stage.

The first full day of action saw the crews tackle eight stages, including two super special stages at the end of the day. The total amount of competitive kilometres was 128km’s.

Of course, leading the championship meant that Thierry and Martijn would open the road and have the best of the road conditions. We’d already had one short stage with Adrien and Alex holding the lead from Ott and Martin and local hero Takamoto and Aaron holding third.

Into SS2 Isegami’s Tunnel 1 – 23.67 km and Thierry was fastest from Ott, with Elfyn third. All three crews gained positions and were the new top three overall. The two Toyota’s of Takamoto and Seb both suffered punctures and fell down the leaderboard sadly.

Next up was SS3 Inabu / Shitara 1 – 19.38 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Ott. The Frenchman gained eight positions and moved into tenth overall. Takamoto was also climbing the leaderboard moving into fifth overall.

The final morning stage SS3 Inabu / Shitara 1 – 19.38 km and Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Ott. There was drama for Thierry though as he started to lose time only setting the tenth best time in the stage. He was suffering with a lack of power and lost a huge amount of time but was still third overall.

After the tyre fitting zone it was back to SS5 Isegami’s Tunnel 2 – 23.67 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. The Estonian moved ahead of his former M-Sport teammate and into the lead. Meanwhile Thierry continued to lose time and fell down to eighth and was now over three minutes from the lead. Takamoto was now into third overall as well. There was huge drama for Andreas though as he crashed his i20 and blocked the stage. All the crews behind were given a notional time.

Onto SS6 Inabu / Shitara 2 – 19.38 km and Ott again was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. Seb was climbing the leaderboard with his quick times, now into fifth overall. Thierry continued to fall down the leaderboard, losing a further six positions and was now over five minutes behind the leader. At this stage he was around half a minute from tenth place.

Another stage win for Elfyn followed in SS7 Shinshiro 2 – 17.41 km and Ott and Seb were again second and third fastest. Thierry lost nearly two minutes on this one and was now over seven minutes behind the leader and now over a minute from the top ten. Further to the front of the field, Adrien moved past Takamoto and into third overall. The Frenchman decided to run the extra pod lights, and this meant that he could see the road much better.

The last two stages were just the short 2.54km Okazaki SSS and these stages are not really rallying to be honest.

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

Classification after Day One

1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 1:26:17.6 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +20.9 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:53.9 4 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:54.0 5 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:15.6 6 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:37.4 7 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +3:43.6 8 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris +4:57.1 9 J. McErlean J. Fulton Škoda Fabia RS +5:55.7 10 H. Arai S. Matsuo Škoda Fabia +5:57.4

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a long day, but a solid effort. The car was not too difficult to drive this morning, but we had some understeer and couldn’t perform at the level we would have liked. However, after the tricky first stage of the afternoon, we managed to improve the balance on the higher grip tarmac, and I felt a lot better on those two stages. Let’s see what tomorrow brings and the conditions we will face – there has been rain here and there, and we have some new stages too.”

Thierry Neuville

“At the moment, we don’t know exactly what happened to cause our technical issue. Of course, we are disappointed, but it is what it is. There are two more days to come, and they have to be excellent now. It is a shame as we were lying in second position, comfortable in the car, and managing the risk with our speed – third would have been enough today, and that was our target, but in the end the problem occurred and there was nothing we could have done.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“We were running with a hard tyre on the front right of the car when we came into a slippery section. There was a river of water running down on the right, which we caught and lost all grip, so we crashed. It’s very disappointing as we were trying to increase our speed in the afternoon, and our split times were looking promising, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t reach the finish. It’s not what we wanted from today, but hopefully the car will be fixed for tomorrow, with everything to drive for on Sunday.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It was a demanding start this morning with a lot of grip changes. Some of them were difficult to read so we had a few slides here and there like probably everybody had. I think the tyre choice for the morning was pretty good – we took the benefit of our extra hard tyres later on – but it wasn’t such a straightforward choice for the afternoon. This time the grip was probably better than we expected and so our tyre choice maybe wasn’t perfect, but things did get better through the loop, and we finished it positively. It’s all still open for tomorrow. As a team we’re all still in the game and we’ll keep doing our best right until the end.”

Sébastien Ogier

“This first stage of the day here in Japan is always a very challenging one and not my luckiest one. For the second time in three years, we picked up a puncture in a similar section of the stage. I couldn’t really feel where it happened, so it was very disappointing and hard to take, but that’s the way it goes. We tried from the next stage to keep the focus, which is not easy in this situation, and at least we could recover some positions already. At the moment it’s not enough and we still need to get some more places for the team, but there are many stages still to go, anything can happen, and we keep fighting.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we did not have the start that we planned in the first stage, where we unfortunately had a tyre off the rim. That was very unfortunate and disappointing but luckily we didn’t lose too much time and could still come back to fourth overall at the end of the day, which is not so bad considering how it started this morning. I had to change my approach and drive a bit more on the safe side to gain positions when others had problems, but it worked out OK. There’s still a long way to go and many things have already happened, so we don’t give up. I just need to keep focused on doing my own job for the team and on my own driving.”

Summary

Well, what a first full day of action. Championship leaders Thierry and Martijn had a nightmare day, losing power and time hand over fist. Meanwhile their teammates Ott and Martin were holding the lead.

Let’s see what Saturday holds in store!

Well, here we go again and for the final time this year as well. Thierry and Martijn hold the lead over their teammates and 2019 world champions Ott and Martin. The Belgians hold a significant twenty-five-point advantage over their teammates though and it would take a big mistake from them to not take their first championship.

Meanwhile in the manufacturer standings the gap is much smaller with just fifteen points separating Hyundai and Toyota. We won’t know until the end of the powerstage on Sunday afternoon who has taken the manufacturers title.

Now then, who could win the rally this weekend? One crew that has to be considered, won the 2023 event – Welshman Elfyn and his English co-driver Scott. They have always had pace on dry and wet tarmac and have to be considered as, dare I say it, the favourites.

However, there are plenty of crews that will fight for victory and really it could be any of the regular crews.

Let’s take a look at the stages awaiting the crews.

Competitive action begins under the floodlights of SS1 Toyota Stadium (2.15km) on Thursday night.

Friday opens with the longest stage of the weekend, the notoriously narrow SS2/5 Isegami’s Tunnel (23.67km).

The brand-new SS10/13 Mt. Kasagi stage debuts on Saturday morning, opening the third day of competition.

Five stages close the 2024 FIA WRC season, with SS21 Lake Mikawako 2 acting as the weekend’s Power Stage.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The target at Rally Japan is to bring home that drivers’ title and to support the team in the fight for the manufacturers’ championship as well. We have done a good job on that already throughout the season, but of course if there is any opportunity where we can support those efforts, then we will. In Japan, the weather and the roads make the biggest difference. They are super dirty when it’s cold, and the leaves on the road make grip very challenging. There are also some new stages, so altogether it’s going to be a very challenging event. We have no testing for Japan, so all of our information has been carried over from Central European Rally. We have plenty of the feedback from previous years here, so we can predict the starting set-up now before doing the fine tuning when we arrive in Japan.”

Ott Tänak

“Rally Japan is another pretty challenging event, probably one of the most difficult we have done on tarmac. It’s definitely the slowest tarmac rally we have done this year; it’s very twisty, narrow, more or less slow everywhere. Normally the stages are never-ending, so together with surface changes and general challenges it’s a tricky event. Japan is crucial for all the championships, so we are definitely planning to do everything we can to give our best performance. With the situation we are in in the championships, we cannot afford to hold back. We know Toyota will go all in and the points difference is pretty small, so we definitely need to fight to keep our lead. All of us need to do their best job: will go into this in fighting mode with the plan to give it our best.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Rally Japan is an event that I did for the first-time last year. It was very enjoyable even though the conditions were very, very difficult, but it was a great challenge. The roads are very twisty and very technical, and at this time of the year the conditions are even more unpredictable. It’s quite different to all the other tarmac rallies that we compete at, the only rally that could be a bit similar is Corsica in terms of being very technical – but it contrasts greatly to Central European Rally. My goal for the weekend is to help us seal the manufacturers’ title. The most important aspect of this event will obviously be the fight with Toyota, so I am sure it will be tough fight them on their home ground – they have nothing to lose. It will be a very big battle, but I think we are all ready for it.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We always receive a very warm welcome driving for Toyota in Japan. Of course, with that comes a lot of expectation to do well but it’s also something we can thrive off. We still have something to fight for in the manufacturers’ championship, and even if it is a difficult task ahead of us, we want to give it our all and give ourselves the best chance. To repeat our result from last year will definitely be the aim: it was a pretty difficult event with a lot of rain and a lot of leaves on the road, and conditions could be similar again. Even if it’s dry, the roads are more technical and twisty than Corsica, which was famous for the number of corners, so it’s a very demanding and busy event both with the pacenotes and with the steering wheel.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s always exciting to go to Rally Japan, and especially this year given we are still in a fight to try and secure the manufacturers’ title. We know that we are not in the ideal position, and we need a close-to-perfect weekend for the team, but it’s definitely not out of reach. Our performance recently has been good and on my side, we want to turn around our fortunes and transform that speed into a good result. The stages in the forests in Japan can be very difficult and conditions are always a big question mark, especially as the event takes place one week later this year. Of course, as Toyota drivers we always feel such strong support which is very nice, and we will try to bring home the result that all the fans are hoping for.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I am really looking forward to Rally Japan. Of course, I always feel a different kind of pressure at my home rally, but it’s a nice kind of pressure: I am really excited to drive in front of my family, my friends and all the fans. Last year, I felt really good in the car and the weekend went well except for one mistake. This year, I want to try and make a good result happen. I think the most important thing will be to assess the situation and the conditions and try to use my performance when I feel confident, a bit like I did on the Central European Rally. It will be challenging but I don’t really mind whether it’s wet or it’s dry: I will do my best and hope I can perform well.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Japan is the last rally of the season, we want to finish the great season we’ve had with a nice result, especially on Tarmac. There are some really tricky, technical roads here and it is quite narrow in places, and the forests can be quite dark this time of year.

“Because it’s a long-haul event, no one has done any testing in preparation, so it’s going to be interesting to see where we can be compared to the others. I’m also looking forward to experiencing the culture again, we didn’t get the result we wanted last time so hopefully this year we can combine success with a great experience of the country.”

Grégoire Munster

“Japan is a rally I like a lot; I have been quite competitive here in the Rally2 category in the last couple of years. Plus, it is really nice to come to Japan and enjoy another culture. I always notice the love of motorsport and rally here is as big, or even bigger, than in Europe so it’s nice to experience the atmosphere. There are a lot of nice ceremonies, especially the prize giving in the stadium, where a lot of fans gather which is really cool.

“Regarding the stages, there are some new stages on the itinerary this year which will be exciting, and the weather conditions are always challenging in Japan during this season. So, anything can happen!”

 

Summary

We will have a new world champion on Sunday and the first to not be driving a Toyota since Seb Ogier won his sixth title when at M-Sport Ford in 2018. Whether it is Ott and Martin celebrating or Thierry and Martijn it will be an exciting end to the season.

Enjoy!!

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.

The second full day of action would see the crews tackle 123km’s over six stages. Thierry held the overnight lead from Seb and Ott and less than eight seconds covered the top three, with Elfyn a further 7.3 seconds back in fourth.

First up was SS9 Granit und Wald 1 – 20.05 km and there was drama for Adrien and Alex as their Puma went off the road but still completed the stage. They had a problem with part of the transmission which had caused their off. At the front, Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. Rally leader Thierry could only manage the fifth best time over 7 seconds slower than his teammate and now his lead was only half a second from Ott.

Onto SS10 Beyond Borders 1 – 24.33 km and Adrien continued to have problems, going off the road again and damaging his Puma. Meanwhile, Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Thierry. This time it was Ott that lost time, only going fifth fastest and with Seb only 1.2 seconds slower than his teammate the Frenchman moved ahead of his former M-Sport teammate and into second overall.

SS11 Schärdinger Innviertel 1 – 17.35 km the final morning stage and after Seb, Elfyn and Ott had completed, Thierry who would be last to complete the stage from the group of Rally1 cars and had a spin in a left hander and did a full 360-degree spin before getting back underway. Further on though, he then went wide on a corner and then got stuck rejoining the road in the drainage ditch. He would lose over 30 seconds and with that fell to fourth overall, behind the new top three. Also, to have problems was Takamoto as he went wide onto the grass and lost around ten seconds whilst rejoining on the slippery grass.

After the service break next up was SS12 Granit und Wald 2 – 20.05 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn who set the joint second fastest time. Ott had reduced Seb’s lead to just 1.1 seconds.

The penultimate stage of the day, SS13 Beyond Borders 2 – 24.33 km and Seb was again fastest from Thierry and Ott. Twelve seconds covered the top three, whilst the former leader Thierry was 37.7 seconds behind and 25.7 from the podium.

The final stage then of the day, SS14 Schärdinger Innviertel 2 – 17.35 km and Seb was again fastest from Ott and Elfyn.

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

Classification after Day Two

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:10:12.7
2	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+5.2
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+14.0
4	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+39.8
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:31.8
6	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:07.3
7	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:22.7
8	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+7:39.6
9	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Škoda Fabia RS	+8:10.6
10	F. Mares	R. Bucha	Toyota GR Yaris	+9:30.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy with my day. It’s been a very close fight for the whole day. The conditions were tricky this morning, but we were quite consistent. Ott was really fast on the opening stage on both passes and we had to react to that, especially this afternoon in order to rebuild our lead. We tried to push even more on the last two stages, but five seconds is not that much of an advantage so the same kind of approach will be needed tomorrow. So far, it’s been a good weekend, and the car is working well considering it’s our first asphalt rally for six months. With these positions after Saturday, we’re catching up in the manufacturers’ championship and let’s try to get some more points tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“I think it’s been a solid day for us in more very mixed conditions. The morning especially was pretty difficult with a bit of fog bringing quite a lot of moisture onto the road, and this evolved between our route-note crews going through and us driving the stage. Therefore, we had to use our own judgement and it seems from the times that this wasn’t so bad. In the afternoon it was drier, but the road was quite polluted with mud, and we didn’t seem to cope with that so well. The margins were only small, but we lost a bit of ground there. Still, it’s been a strong day for the team, and we’ll keep fighting for more points tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today my target was again to have a clean day. This morning it went well except for this last stage, which was quite tricky with surface changes and bits of gravel on the road. I realised under braking for this one corner there was not enough grip, so I decided to go straight. It felt like a long time sliding on the grass, but we got back on the road without any issues. This afternoon the conditions were much drier and easier, and we could have a clean loop. Tomorrow I’ll aim for a good run through the first stages and see if I can do anything in the Power Stage, but my main job is to be there for the team.”

Sami Pajari

“It has been quite fun today. The conditions were a bit different from the morning to the afternoon as it was getting drier and more grippy, and that was a different kind of a challenge with new things to learn: when it’s like that you need to try and go for it and that’s quite demanding with a Rally1 car. The pace that the top guys are doing is so high, but it’s quite nice to see that we can be as close as we have been in our first rally on asphalt, and I have many ideas where I can improve. Already the improvement during the rally has been quite good and the confidence is growing nicely. I’m looking forward to doing four more stages with this car tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“It has been quite an intense day. This morning I had one bad stage where I lost too much time, and the rhythm wasn’t good enough, however this afternoon the car worked really well on the first stage in what was the most difficult, dirty and challenging conditions. The next two were too clean and high grip, and my setup was just not racy enough to get the speed out of the car. We know from last year you want to prepare a forgiving car, and while it’s a bit different on the roads this year, the car is not bad to drive – it’s just missing the top speed in nice conditions. We all need to have a strong day tomorrow to bring home important points for the championship.”

Thierry Neuville

“I’m obviously very disappointed for what happened today, we paid the price for a mistake during the recce. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. We didn’t expect to be fighting for the lead this weekend; we came here with the target of finishing the rally, however we were in a situation yesterday where we were in a close battle with all the title contenders as well as for important manufacturers’ points. We had to drive fast, and we did what we could today. Tomorrow, we need to try and take as many extra points as possible, so we go into Japan with a comfortable lead. The stages look quite interesting – hopefully they will be drier and less tricky than today.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Today we worked a bit on the setup of the car to prepare for Super Sunday. We had very different conditions on the second loop; it was much drier, which required some changes. Overall, we had a good, clean loop. We stayed away from taking big risks so for sure there is still time to gain, but I don’t feel that I am too far away. We tested some things on the car, some of which worked well, so we are going in the right direction, but we know we have one more gear for tomorrow. I want to contribute to the team’s manufacturers’ fight, so we will wake up with a fresh mind and give it our best.”

Oliver Solberg

“We softened the car for the afternoon,” he said. “That made quite a big difference. It gave me more confidence and grip. I should have taken this set-up this morning, but it’s all about experience. I haven’t competed on Tarmac for nine months, so I was a little bit out of practice!

“The stages have been a lot of fun again today – that last one was super-nice. This morning was quite tricky with conditions changing a lot, it was easy to get caught out. Hopefully it will stay a bit drier through Sunday, but I have a good feeling for the set-up now.

“Let’s see what happens – but again the number of fans and the enthusiasm they are having out there has been really cool.”

Sunday

The final day of the rally will see the crews tackle 54km’s over the final four stages. Will there be another sting in the tail, or can Seb hold on for victory?

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.

We really are coming to the end of the end of the season and with just two rounds left, what happens during this weekend’s rally will likely decide the driver’s championship.

Following the last round in Chile the championship standings look like this.

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 11

1	T. Neuville	207
2	O. Tänak	178
3	S. Ogier	166
4	E. Evans	161
5	A. Fourmaux	140
6	K. Rovanpera	114
7	T. Katsuta	80
8	D. Sordo	44
9	S. Pajari	41
10	E. Lappi	33
11	A. Mikkelsen	29

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 11

1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	482
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	465
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	245

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

This round features 302km’s over eighteen stages in the following countries Czechia, Germany and Austria.

Competition begins on Thursday with the 2.55km SS1 Velká Chuchle and the 11.78km SS2 Klatovy 1.

Friday’s stages are set to cover 110.64km of Czech roads and includes the longest test of the weekend: SS4/7 Strašín (26.69km).

123.46km of competitive running on Saturday forms the longest day of the event, featuring the innovative new SS10/13 Beyond Borders (24.33km) – crossing the lines between Germany and Austria.

Four stages make up the final day of action in Europe: SS15/17 Knaus Tabbert Am Hochwald (12.17km) and SS16/18 Passauer Land (14.87km).

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Last year we had a great victory at the very first Central European Rally. We know we usually perform well on tarmac, and winning in Germany was super cool for the whole team. Despite difficult conditions, we performed well. Because of the stage changes we need to do some video work, so we will be studying those as much as possible to get a good feel of the new areas. We will test at a small pre-event rally in Austria to have enough time to get back into a rhythm and also work on the car setup. The main goal is to manage our championship so we can take many points as possible. Of course, we would like to get that title in our pocket, but our first focus will be having a consistent run.”

Ott Tänak

“I personally enjoy the type of roads at Central European Rally the most of all tarmac rallies. Large sections of the roads will be new again this year, which should make it interesting. Last year road position was very important on the first day; because of the wet weather, the road was getting dirty quickly from every car that came through. The weather will certainly play a critical role this year as well. Austria and Germany are very similar to each other with roads in between fields and many junctions, but the Czech roads are usually in the forest with broken tarmac and many cuts. We will only find out during the recce what the roads look like this year. The manufacturers’ championship is in an interesting place, and we are going there with the target of scoring maximum points and putting pressure on our competitors.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I remember Central European Rally very well from last year, it’s the rally where we ended up clinching the WRC2 title. Overall, I would say it is a difficult rally because there’s so much gravel and mud being pulled out from the road. The conditions are very demanding; there’s a lot of cutting going on and very easy to make a mistake. I’m really looking forward to the rally because I will have a pretty different approach compared to Monte Carlo and Croatia. At that time, the car was still quite new for me so there were still things to get used to. I will have that new approach in Central European Rally, go there and give a good result to help the team maintain its lead in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After a great team performance in Chile, it was nice to be back on the podium and now we want to get the most out of these last two asphalt rounds to end the season. We know that both Central Europe and Japan can be quite difficult rallies in terms of the weather and such events are a challenge as a driver to try and get right, especially with the added dimension of working with our route note crews. Our driving time on this surface is quite limited during the year, but at least the conditions we expect are not so different to Croatia. The car was working well there, so we’ve had a good base to work from while trying to find some improvements that can put us in a good place for the event.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Although I didn’t manage to score the result I was personally hoping for in Chile, I’m pleased we managed to make a perfect weekend as a team and come back much closer in the manufacturers’ championship, which was always my main target for this season. So we are really motivated now to push for the last two events on asphalt. In Central Europe, it’s nice to have another home rally for me, close to where I live now in Germany, and with a lot of fans watching the stages. From last year, we know that the conditions can be really challenging with very narrow roads, some quite dirty sections and very low grip. So we’ve been working to have a car that can give us maximum confidence for these tricky stages.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m looking forward to being back in the car and driving on a totally different surface for the last two rallies of the year. I really like driving on asphalt, and I hope to find a good feeling and perform well. Central European Rally is a big challenge for everybody with a lot of surface changes and dirt on the road. Last year, the Friday on Czech roads was especially difficult with rain and a lot of cuts. With that experience it should be easier to return this year but there will still be many new stages, so we need to focus on making good pacenotes and communicating well with our route note crew. I will try to be patient, be there to score points for the team and if everything goes well, it will be easier for me to push at Rally Japan.”

Sami Pajari

“This will be my first time with the Rally1 car on asphalt and I’m sure it will be a big challenge. I did the rally in WRC2 last year and it was really tricky in places, with some more enjoyable parts as well. The stages are a bit different in each of the three countries, and at this time of year the weather can be quite unpredictable. But at the moment for myself it’s all about facing these challenges and learning from them. I think we did quite a solid job in Finland and Chile and I’m sure it will be a similar story on this rally too: when we’re feeling good, we can do some nice times, and if there’s more risk or tricky conditions, step back a little bit to gain the experience and not rush too much.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Central European Rally takes us back to Tarmac rallying for the first time in nearly six months! It’s nice to be driving on Tarmac again, and we had a good day’s testing last week. We know at this time of year the weather can be very wet and make the rally very complicated, with a lot of mud getting brought up from the cuts on the road.

“Last year Alex and I finished first in the RC2 class, which was a really good result. We want to do our best this year on this event to get back on the podium, so we’re going to do our best. We’re really pleased to be back in Europe but also back on Tarmac!”

Grégoire Munster

“Central Europe was the first Tarmac event I did in a Rally1 car, and the roads and weather conditions in this part of Europe suit me very well. So, I’m looking forward to this event! We had a really good pre-event test last week near the border of the Czech Republic and Austria, and it went very well in tricky conditions – so we are well prepared for the event!

“I like that we cross three countries during this event, it makes the roads very diverse and this way we can see so many fans from different areas of Europe, which is really nice.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“After a good result on Acropolis rally, I wanted to conclude the 2024 season with M-Sport and my teammates Adrien, Alex, Greg and Louis with a super nice challenge, and this Tarmac event in Central Europe definitely represents that! I hope to achieve a similar result to our Acropolis finish and have as much fun as we did there.”

WRC2 Category

Oliver Solberg

“I’m not going to lie to you,” said the 23-year-old. “That was a difficult one, probably one of the toughest of my career. We had really done everything we could, we were leading, but still it wasn’t enough to win it on the day. We might still win, depending what our rivals do in CER and Japan, but I think we deserved to do it in our own way.

 

“Nothing we can do about that now, we stay positive, and we look forwards. The best way to get over the disappointment of the last round is to get straight back in the car and back on the pace – that’s what we’re going to do in CER.

 

“I would like to say we’re going to be pushing for another win and that’s definitely the objective, but this one is tricky. We haven’t driven on Tarmac for so long – Monte Carlo in January was the last time. And we didn’t compete in CER last year, so we don’t know so much about the conditions. Let’s see what we can do.

 

“We know there will be a lot of fans out there and me and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] love to see them all – and, of course, this is kind of a home round for Škoda, so we want to show how cool and quick the Fabia RS Rally2 really is!”

 

William Creighton

“This is a completely new rally for me, with 90% new stages for everyone else this year too. It looked like such a tricky rally last year and I am sure it will be similar this time, even if the weather is good. The Fiesta Rally2 will work well in these conditions, we’ve had some recent experience on Tarmac in the car, and I will be aiming for a strong rally to finish our WRC2 season with M-Sport on a high.”

 

Summary

Although Elfyn has already conceded this season’s championship, the Welshman who is fourth in the standings remains within 46 points of championship leader Thierry.  Now it would take a major upset for Thierry to lose his lead, but this is the world rally championship, and nothing is decided as yet.

The closest challengers to the Belgians are their teammates Ott and Martin who are just 29 points behind. A win for the 2019 world champions would keep them in the fight heading to Japan in November.

Also still in the fight is Seb and Vincent, 41 points from the leaders. We know that the former champion is quick on sealed surfaces. Let’s see what they can do this weekend!

Enjoy!

The final day then and with 54km’s over the remaining three stages. What would these final stages have to give to the weekends action. Overnight rain from a huge storm would change the final stage as well with some muddy sections on the first run through.

First up then was SS13 Inohori – 17.47 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. Dani was quite a long way off the pace and having lost almost 32 seconds fell to down to third overall. The Spanish crew suffered a problem with their hybrid system and therefore a loss of power.

Next up was SS14 Eleftherohori 1 – 18.29 km and Seb was quickest from Ott and Elfyn who set the exact same time. Elfyn revealed at that the stop line that he’d recced this piece of road a number of years ago when it was raining and therefore had some knowledge to fall back on.

Onto the final stage then SS15 Eleftherohori 2[Power Stage] – 18.29 km and after a pause in the action after Elfyn finished the stage when the stage was interrupted for a number of minutes. Once back underway, Adrien was fastest from Ott, Elfyn, Thierry and Takamoto. However, there was drama for Seb who rolled his car and lost second overall. Having got his car back on four wheels, he and his co-driver completed the stage and ended up finishing in sixteenth position.

Of course, the outcome of this was the reality that Hyundai had taken a 1-2-3, certainly not what was expected and a surprise to see Seb make this kind of mistake.

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

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s unbelievable. It has been a crazy weekend. Ever since the recce, I was concerned about the roughness of the rally; I knew that we needed a different approach than some of the other drivers to try to keep the advantage we have in the championship for the remaining rounds. That objective and target has been the best and paid off with victory and a good team result as well. We were not driving on the limit all weekend long to avoid any punctures and moments, and we kept all four wheels on the road. Now we have a good lead, the story will be to protect those points in the last three rounds.”

Dani Sordo

“At this moment, I am very happy with what we have achieved here for both myself, and the team. It was a complicated rally and I felt we demonstrated our speed on some of the stages, but on others we took it carefully to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes or get another puncture. Of course, I wanted to show my speed more at times, but I had to be clever and think of the team and the manufacturers’ fight. My dream was to finish like this with all three cars on the podium; for the whole team both here and back at base, this is a really good result for our motivation.”

Ott Tänak

“Obviously we were expecting there to be plenty of drama this weekend but in the end, this is a great team result. Everyone should definitely be proud of themselves; there was so much happening around us so to bring home a 1-2-3 is a fantastic finish to the weekend. It is a shame we lost positions on Saturday morning, so we don’t know what could have been, but this is one of the toughest rallies and to come out on top is great for the entire team.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After a difficult weekend, today didn’t go as well as we would have liked. Clearly, the speed is still missing unfortunately. In some sections and moments, we were still performing OK, but I didn’t feel fully at home to really push with no worries. I was probably too keen to finish cleanly after what’s been a difficult few days. It’s been a big disappointment lately; things have not been going well and we need to get back on the right track. We have some work to do, and we’ll look to start again fresh in the next event.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We gave everything all weekend. We did a lot right, we had a great feeling in the car and great pace, and we fought as hard as we could until the last stage. Unfortunately, we picked up a puncture around a kilometre in, I didn’t react to brake early enough for the next corner, and we rolled. Thankfully we managed to fix the car and bring it back to service and bring at least some points to the team. It’s been a strange weekend. In many aspects it was close to perfection, but it doesn’t count in rallying if you don’t bring it all to the end. This is not a rally where you want to be taking risks, you need some luck to do so, and it was not on our side. It’s satisfying for me to still be able to compete like this: I enjoy pushing the limits, it’s been fun in the car. But I know very well after all these years that sometimes it doesn’t go your way. I will still be there in the next three events, continuing to give my best and keep fighting.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very tough rally. Today on the final day we also had some difficulties. The stages were rough, and I tried to take some points on the Power Stage in particular, but unfortunately, we picked up a puncture. This probably cost us the chance to take some more points. It’s been a disappointing weekend and I’m sorry for the team. The car felt amazing at the beginning of the rally, but with my small mistake our chances of a good result were over, so I need to do a better job in future.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“It was a frustrating start to the rally, after we were fighting for the top spots in the morning, but then we broke the suspension after hitting a rock. We were then focused totally on Super Sunday to get the maximum points. We got 11 out of 12 available points, including the 5 for the Power Stage.

“We showed some good pace overall, and there has been an incredible atmosphere with all the fans and the really beautiful stages. It was a tough and hot event, and now we have Chile coming up and we want to come back stronger for that.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“14th overall and second Greek driver – we have achieved our best result on Acropolis Rally, while I was the oldest driver on the 70 entries! We had no issues throughout the rally, and we pushed when possible. I’m also very happy to have pleased the Greek fans!”

Grégoire Munster

“We’re disappointed of course, I think the rally was going well for us despite some small issues on the first day and the punctures. Even on the second day, the pace in the morning was encouraging and then we had this off.

“A small mistake with big consequences, and it’s a shame because the team put a lot of resource into getting the car in the best condition as possible in this really rough event. So to not get a result in the end is a shame. But we can’t rewind, we can just look forward to Chile and put everything in to get a good result there.”

Summary

Well, there was one final twist in this years Acropolis Rally, with Seb and Vincent rolling in the final stage. This gave the Hyundai team a 1-2-3 and an increased lead in the manufacturers title race. Thierry also took victory from Dani and Ott. All three crews led at some point, but it was the championship leaders that took their second win of the year.

Their teammates both could have won of course, but for the punctures that they both suffered during Saturday’s stages.

At Toyota the team suffered a number of issues, some caused by the drivers and a couple of technical failures as well which was surprising. They will investigate, fix and learn from this. It was a shame to see Elfyn and Scott have the puncture which caused them to lose so much time so early in the rally.

Finally at M-Sport Ford it was a case if what might have been. Adrien could have made it to the podium this time, but after the incident which removed the suspension on his Puma, it then became a pursuit for the biggest number of points available on Sunday, given the points system for this year which has received deserved criticism and been incredibly unpopular with the fans and also some of the drivers this year.

Next up is a return to Rally Chile near the end of the month from the 26^th to the 29^th of September.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10

1	T. Neuville	192
2	O. Tänak	158
3	S. Ogier	154
4	E. Evans	140
5	A. Fourmaux	130
6	K. Rovanpera	86
7	T. Katsuta	80
8	D. Sordo	44
9	S. Pajari	34
10	E. Lappi	33

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10

1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	445
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	410
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	226

The second full day of the tenth round of the championship again saw drama from the off. A number of cars would make the restart with, including Takamoto and Adrien with the Japanese star opening the road.

First up then was SS7 Rengini – 28.67 km and there was a stage win for Thierry from Seb and Dani. Meanwhile, Ott and Martin fell from the lead with not just one but two punctures. The Estonian’s fell to sixth place. Dani now led from Thierry and Seb. Further back, Elfyn and Scott made it up into fifteenth position after setting the fourth best time.

Onto SS8 Thiva – 20.95 km which was taken by Seb from Dani and Thierry. Dani was pulling away from Thierry, the gap now between the teammates a little over ten seconds. Ott gained two positions, moving ahead of two WRC2 cars and into fourth place.

SS9 Aghii Theodori 1 – 25.87 km was taken by Seb from Thierry and Ott. Dani had a tyre fail on him and this led to the rear right-hand side section of bodywork getting ripped away. Another leader fell from the lead and now his Belgian teammate was leading.

Following that and the tyre the shortest proper stage of the day, SS10 Loutraki – 12.90 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Thierry in this one. The Belgians now had a forty second lead over their Spanish teammates.

The second run of SS11 Aghii Theodori 2 – 25.87 km and Seb was fastest from Ott and Thierry. There was an incident for Elfyn and Scott as their car dug in in a rut in a left-handed hairpin and the car slow rolled onto its roof. They got it back onto its wheels and completed the stage, having let their teammates Seb and Vincent through, so they didn’t give them a dust cloud to drive through. Ott and Martin also had a moment at the same corner and managed to get his Hyundai back onto four wheels.

The final mickey mouse stage, SS12 EKO SSS – 1.97 km and Thierry won it from Seb and Dani. The Belgians took the maximum points at the end as leaders of the rally at the end of Saturday.

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

Classification after Day Two

1	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	3:01:05.3
2	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+53.7
3	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:20.9
4	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:19.2
5	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+5:06.1
6	R. Virves	A. Lesk	Škoda Fabia RS	+5:33.8
7	Y. Rossel	F. Barral	Citroën C3	+6:00.3
8	K. Kajetanovicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+6:58.1
9	G. Linnamäe	J. Morgan	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+8:33.9
10	F. Zaldivar	M. Der Ohannesian	Škoda Fabia RS	+9:23.2

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“So far, we have managed our rally well despite some small issues on Friday, but we’ve had nothing major on Saturday. Our approach was to be careful with the car when it was needed, but you can’t avoid the punctures here. There are so many rocks around and you just need to get through the stage. I tried to adapt my driving style in the ruts to be smoother and not enter them too hard to avoid going sideways and risking hitting a stone. It’s a lottery out there and we don’t know what tomorrow will bring – what the weather will be like, how hard we need to push for the extra points – so a lot of things we still need to manage to bring home as many points as possible.”

Dani Sordo

“I’m a little bit disappointed that our puncture took us out of the rally lead, but in the end, it was not as bad as it could have been. We drove a little more slowly after that to avoid any more problems, but for sure with all the dust in the car it was very tricky. Thankfully, we had enough of a gap to Ogier today, but we didn’t want to make a mistake and lose another position. It was hard to survive but we managed to. Tomorrow will be another demanding day with two passes of the Power Stage, which will really destroy the surface – I think the rally won’t be decided until the very last corner.”

Ott Tänak

“The length of today has been very challenging with a lot of time on the road sections. It was very unfortunate to get two punctures this morning, but what’s done is done and let’s see what tomorrow brings. The afternoon was without trouble and I’m happy to be at the end, but I wasn’t really comfortable in the car. However, tomorrow is another day, and we have a chance to improve it. Let’s see what the weather does as well as the conditions of the stages, but we are expecting another difficult day. All I can do at the moment is support the team and I will definitely try to do my best for them tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“I think we did a good day today. There was nothing else we could do. We knew it would be a difficult day so we can be pleased that we got through without trouble. The gaps were quite big so we just focused on ourselves and tried to do our job. It’s been a challenging weekend for everyone and with tomorrow to come, it’s far from over. It’s a very important day for both championships but the last stage that we drive twice is maybe the roughest we saw during recce, so it will be interesting to see what happens.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was good to be back in the car today; thank you to the team for fixing it. It was an extremely hot day and at the same time, the amount of road cleaning was much more than I expected. This made it very hard to compare my pace to the others, so I just tried to focus on my job and what I could do. I tried to find a good feeling for tomorrow and I will do my best. The stages are still very rough but let’s see how it goes.”

Elfyn Evans

“It was not an easy day to really push to the maximum after the difficulties of yesterday, but it was an opportunity to keep working through a few things with our car setup for this kind of condition and we were able to find some answers at least. Then, in the last proper stage this afternoon, we just clipped a rut in a tight hairpin. The car went over quite slowly but the damage was obvious. We did try to make some repairs and continue but the team made the call to retire, as it’s important to get everything right for tomorrow.”

Sunday

The final day of this rally will see the crews tackle 54km’s over three stages and the longest stage of the day is SS14 Eleftherohori 1 – 18.29 km which is repeated as the rally ending power stage.

 

Let’s see if there is any more drama in the final kilometres tomorrow!