Thierry Neuville’s quest for his first FIA World Rally Championship title suffered a major setback during a turbulent Saturday at the Central European Rally. Despite leading at the start of the day, the Belgian driver slipped to fourth place after two costly errors.
Neuville had initially held a 6.4-second lead after Friday’s stages, but things took a turn for the worse on Saturday’s penultimate day. During the challenging Beyond Borders stage, Neuville went off the road twice in quick succession, losing nearly 40 seconds. His second off-road excursion, which left his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID stuck in a drainage ditch, proved particularly damaging to his championship hopes.
With Neuville faltering, Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier reclaimed the rally lead. Ogier, an eight-time world champion, fought off a strong challenge from Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who trails by just 5.2 seconds heading into Sunday’s finale.
Neuville’s off-road mistakes have made it increasingly unlikely that the championship will be decided this weekend. He now finds himself 39.8 seconds behind the leader and must outperform Tänak by two points to secure the title before the season’s final event at Rally Japan.
Despite the setback, Neuville remains determined, stating, “There is disappointment for sure, but the rally isn’t over, and tomorrow is an exciting day. It was definitely a mistake in the recce with the pace notes. The note was too fast, but it is what it is.”
The rally concludes with four stages on Sunday, including two runs of the Knaus Tabbert Am Hochwald stage and the Passauer Land test. The final stage will serve as the Wolf Power Stage, offering crucial extra points in the championship race.
Saturday Standings:
- Sébastien Ogier – Toyota GR Yaris – 2h 10m 12.7s
- Ott Tänak – Hyundai i20 N – +5.2s
- Elfyn Evans – Toyota GR Yaris – +14.0s
- Thierry Neuville – Hyundai i20 N – +39.8s
- Takamoto Katsuta – Toyota GR Yaris – +1m 31.8s
- Sami Pajari – Toyota GR Yaris – +2m 7.3s
Category leaders:
- WRC: S. Ogier / V. Landais – Toyota GR Yaris
- WRC2: N. Gryazin / K. Aleksandrov – Citroën C3 Rally2
- WRC3: M. Chatillon / M. Cornuau – Renault Clio Rally3
As the Central European Rally comes to a thrilling close, all eyes will be on Neuville as he aims to salvage his title hopes.
Source: WRC
This article was crafted with assistance from Chatgpt
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