Tag: Central European Rally

Just four stages stand between Kalle Rovanpera (above) and back-to-back FIA World Rally Championship crowns after his only remaining title rival, Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans, crashed out of the Central European Rally on Saturday.

Having dominated Thursday’s treacherous stages, run over muddy asphalt in the Czech Republic, to build a commanding lead on the WRC’s newest event, 23-year-old Rovanpera was already doing more than enough to successfully defend his 2022 drivers’ crown. 

With the action moving to Austria and Germany for Saturday, a spin on the morning’s second stage allowed Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville to slash the Finn’s advantage by more than half. But the dynamic completely changed later in the morning when Evans, who’d been sitting third overall in his GR Yaris Rally1, crashed out of contention. 

Evans needed to outscore his teammate by at least one point on this penultimate round to keep the fight going to the WRC’s Japan finale next month, but he came unstuck on a slippery right-hand bend and slid into a wooden barn (see video below), damaging the left-rear suspension and going no further. 

The Welshman will restart on Sunday in a desperate bid to salvage bonus points from the Wolf Power Stage. But even then, Rovanpera would need to post a non-finish — a seemingly unlikely scenario as things stand — for Evans’ long-shot title bid to continue. 

Sacrificing his chances of the outright rally win to focus on his championship prospects, Rovanpera dialed back his speed following Evans’ exit. Neuville, as a result, was left to build a 26.2s lead in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at the conclusion of the penultimate leg of the all-asphalt counter. 

“It’s good to be at the finish of the day,” said Rovanpera, who simply needs a drama-free run through the closing stages to clinch the title. “It’s tough out there. I think these are the most tough [asphalt] rally conditions I have ever seen.”

Neuville, who’s in line to become the first ever Central European Rally winner, added: “All afternoon we tried to manage the gap and I am happy to finish the day in the lead of the rally. We are following our target.”

Ott Tanak ensured that all three Rally1 manufacturers ended the day on the provisional podium, bringing his M-Sport Ford Puma to the overnight halt in a lonely third overall. A non-functioning handbrake caused the Estonian some frustrations in the day’s final stage and he trails Rovanpera by more than one minute, with Sebastien Ogier’s GR Yaris another 31.1s behind in fourth. 

The battle for fifth place continues to rage between Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen. Katsuta struggled to feel confident on the greasy asphalt roads in the morning, but upped his pace in the afternoon to claim the overnight position by 10.9s. 

Completing the Rally1 runners, M-Sport young gun hotshot Gregoire Munster was seventh overall, ahead of the similar Puma of Pierre-Louis Loubet. 

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, M-Sport Fiesta driver Adrien Fourmaux is the leading runner in Rally 2-spec equipment, holding ninth overall, but isn’t registered for WRC2 championship points this weekend. Instead, one place behind the Frenchman, Emil Lindholm’s Hyundai i20 N leads the class.  

Behind Lindholm — as in, way behind — Andreas Mikkelsen is within touching distance of clinching the WRC2 title, despite trailing the class leader by more than 13 minutes after Saturday’s stages.

Mikkelsen’s weekend on the all-new, all-asphalt event has not gone to plan so far. The Norwegian driver languishes 16th overall among the WRC2 runners after pitching his Skoda Fabia RS into the undergrowth on Friday morning. 

He then suffered another time-consuming spin on Saturday morning, but the demise of Citroen C3 driver Yohan Rossel and Gus Greensmith’s current standing of fifth in class means that Mikkelsen can still wrap up the title on Sunday. As it stands, he must outscore fellow Skoda driver Greensmith in the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage to seal the deal. 

Should Greensmith climb to fourth, it gets more complicated. Mikkelsen would then need to win the Power Stage, at the same time being reliant on Greensmith not scoring any bonus points. And, if Greensmith makes it inside the top three, the title will be decided in Japan next month. 

Sunday’s final leg consists of two stages, each run twice, across two countries. Bohmerwald in Austria is first up, before the cars cross the border for Passauer Land in Germany, the second pass of which forms the Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Central European Rally, positions after Leg Two, SS14
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 2h18m34.5s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +26.2s
3 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m49.1s
4 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m20.2s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m47.9s
6 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m58.8s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m52.2s
8 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Benjamin Veillas (Ford Puma Rally1) +9m05.8s
9 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta MkII – RC2, non-points) +9m12.3s
10 Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hamalainen (Hyundai i20 N – WRC2 leader) +9m18.8s

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Kalle Rovanpera appeared oblivious to Friday’s punishing conditions on the WRC’s Central European Rally as he stormed to a commanding 36.4s lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.

The 23-year-old Finn (above) sits on the verge of claiming his second consecutive FIA World Rally Championship, with Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans the only other driver still mathematically in contention. 

If Rovanpera matches or betters Evans’ score at this 12th and penultimate round, title number two is guaranteed — and after Friday’s wet-weather masterclass, who’d bet against him? 

A brand-new event for 2023, the all-asphalt Central European Rally includes stages spread across three countries — Germany, Austria and Czech Republic, with the latter taking center stage on Friday. 

Heavy rain and perilous mud thrown on to the road by corner-cutting cars challenged the crews as they tackled six special stages on the rally’s first full day. 

Running first on the road courtesy of his WRC points lead, Rovanpera took full advantage of the less polluted surface offered by his starting position. He reached the mid-leg tire-fitting zone 29.2s clear of the field after winning all three of the morning’s treacherously slippy tests in his GR Yaris Rally1. 

His domination continued into the repeated afternoon loop when, in conditions more consistent for drivers throughout the field — as in, everyone now had to contend with the mud thrown on the roads during the morning loop — he widened the gap further.

As it stands, Rovanpera is poised to claim the title unless he makes a major error during the remaining two days, or Evans, who languishes 47.2s behind him in third overall, can stage a remarkable comeback. 

“It has been super tricky today,” Rovanpera said. “Luckily, the weather was on our side for once with the starting position — it was good to be the first car on the road. We can be happy with our day.”

Neuville initially led after Thursday’s pair of short super special stages, but fell to third on Friday morning after struggling with his car’s setup. The Belgian felt his i20 N Rally1 would have benefited from softer suspension springs but, with no opportunity for service between loops, changes were not possible. 

Nevertheless, he maintained the pressure on Evans and, after passing the Welshman to claim the runner-up spot in the final stage, ended the day 10.8s in front. 

Also feeling at odds with his car’s handling was M-Sport Ford Puma driver Ott Tanak, who ended the leg a lonely fourth overall — 43.2s adrift of Evans, but with 56.4s in hand over fifth-placed Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta.

Sebastien Ogier’s hopes of winning his “home” rally disintegrated early in the day when the Munich-based Frenchman limped through the opening stage with tire damage caused by a broken wheel. The eight-time WRC champ, who is running a limited schedule with Toyota this season, fought back to hold an overnight sixth, just 3.2s ahead of Teemu Suninen’s Hyundai. 

Aside from Neuville, Suninen was the only other Hyundai Rally1 driver remaining after fellow Finn Esapekka Lappi crashed heavily from third overall on the day’s third stage. Suninen, starting his first asphalt rally in the i20 N Rally1, placed seventh overall ahead of M-Sport Puma youngster Gregoire Munster. 

Also having his patience tested was Pierre-Louis Loubet, who dropped more than five minutes on the day’s final stage when he went off the road and picked up wheel damage on his Puma. 

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Emil Lindholm topped the standings after Friday’s action — but there was trouble for all three of the main title protagonists.

Current WRC2 points leader Andreas Mikkelsen began this rally with a realistic opportunity to wrap up the title, and all was going well for the Norwegian driver as he led after Friday’s opener at Vlachovo Brezi.

But he plummeted down the order after going off the road in the very next test, losing more than 10 minutes as spectators desperately tried to free his Skoda Fabia RS from the Czech undergrowth. His problems handed Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver Lindholm the rally lead and also means that the title will most likely be decided at next month’s season finale in Japan. 

Yohan Rossel, second in the points before this round, saw his victory hopes shattered when he crashed his Citroen C3 Rally2 into trees in the day’s first stage, while Gus Greensmith, another driver locked into the title fight, languished down in eighth in class after struggling with his Skoda’s setup. 

Saturday’s action begins with two stages in Austria, before a quick hop across the border for the Knaus Tabbert Bayerischer Wald stage in Germany. After service in Passau, Germany, the cars head back to Austria and the loop is repeated once more.

WRC Central European Rally, positions after Leg One, SS8
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h13m05.1s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +36.4s 
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +47.2s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m30.4s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m26.8s
6 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m35.9s
7 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m39.1s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m59.1s
9 Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hamalainen (Hyundai i20 N – WRC2 leader) +5m36.3s
10 Erik Cais/Daniel Trunkat (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +5m51.2s

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