The 2024 Central European Rally could end the suspense in this WRC season’s title race. On the program for this twelfth and penultimate round? 302.51 kilometers timed on asphalt at the end of which Thierry Neuville could emerge with the world champion crown placed on his head, finally.
> You can follow the evolution of the rankings live via the official WRC Live Timing, available here.
Saturday October 19 (Austria, 123.46 km)
7h58 – ES9 : Granite And Forest – 20.05 km : Ott Tänak
9h05 – ES10 : Beyond Borders – 24,33 km
10h34 – ES11 : Schärdinger Innviertel – 17.35 km
14h28 – ES12 : Granite And Forest – 20.05 km
3:35 p.m. – SS13 : Beyond Borders – 24,33 km
17h04 – ES14 : Schärdinger Innviertel – 17.35 km
WRC – Central European Rally
Follow SS10 live with commentary
9h26 – ES10 : ???????? Adrien Fourmaux was finally able to leave after a five-minute stop. He finished this special at a slow pace.
9h24 – ES10 : Grégoire Munster crosses the finish line 3″9 behind Andreas Mikkelsen’s time.
9h22 – ES10 : Jourdan Serderidis finishes this special at his cruising pace, in 14’32″9.
9h20 – ES10 : ????????⚠️ Two exits from the track for Adrien Fourmaux, who first goes off into the grass then hits a wall with the back of his Ford Puma! The car is hit, the crew must go out to check the damage!
9h18 – ES10 : ⏱️ Andreas Mikkelsen sets the first reference time in 12’59″8. No mistakes this time for the Norwegian, who must regain confidence in his Hyundai.
9h12 – ES10 : ☁️ The weather conditions are barely better on this 10th special, even if the fog seems a little thinner than earlier.
9h09 – ES10 : ❌???????? It’s abandonment for Yohan Rossel. The left rear suspension of the Citroën C3 is broken and the Frenchman cannot leave.
9h07 – ES10 : ???? Yohan Rossel’s exit means that the WRC2 title will be decided between Oliver Solberg and Sami Pajari at Rally Japan. The Finn still has one shot to steal the title from the Swede, who is 15 points behind his opponent.
9h05 – ES10 : ???? Andreas Mikkelsen sets off, let’s go for SS10 of the Central European Rally!
9h01 – ES9: ⚠️???????? Another hard blow for Yohan Rossel! The Frenchman went off the track at kilometer 13 and saw his hopes of a WRC2 title definitely disappear! The crew is OK.
8h38 – ???? Meet at 9:05 a.m. for the start of SS10 (Beyond Borders – 24,33 km).
8h36 – ES9 : ???? Thierry Neuville finishes the special and is… behind Ott Tänak at the finish of SS9! The Estonian takes the scratch and an excellent performance in the general classification, as he comes within a second of the Belgian!
SS9 – Ranking
Overall ranking after ES9
8h33 – ES9 : ???????? Sébastien Ogier concedes 3″9 to Ott Tänak on this special and therefore loses his 2nd place in the general classification, now 2″5 behind the Estonian! “It wasn’t too bad. But when I look at the clock, it’s not very good. »
8h30 – ES9 : ⏱️ Ott Tänak got off to a good start this day and set the provisional best time in 10’52″7, 4″6 better than Elfyn Evans! “The feeling with the car is a little better than yesterday. But the conditions are really incredibly difficult, more so than I thought. »
8:28 a.m. – SS9: Be careful, Ott Tänak is on the attack and Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville are already well behind the first intermediates! The road becomes more and more polluted at the rope level as you go along.
8h27 – ES9 : ⏱️ For a tenth, Elfyn Evans takes the best time in 10’57″3!
8h24 – ES9 : ⏱️ New best time for Takamoto Katsuta in 10’57″4, which is 4″8 faster than Grégoire Munster.
8h22 – ES9 : Sami Pajari played it safe in these difficult conditions: the Finn finished 7″0 behind Grégoire Munster. Remember that he is competing in his first asphalt rally in the premier category.
8h19 – ES9 : ???????? Adrien Fourmaux logically finishes a lot late following his exit from the track: the Frenchman is 32″5 behind his teammate at M-Sport. He points out a differential problem on his Ford Puma, which he describes as “unconductable”. “We have a big problem with the front differential, we noticed it on the link, I no longer have traction at the front. It’s like driving in rear-wheel drive all the time, as soon as there’s dirt, it’s difficult to make it go straight. »
8h16 – ES9 : ⏱️ Grégoire Munster takes the best time in 11’02″2a logical improvement after Andreas Mikkelsen’s spin.
8h13 – ES9 : Gentleman driver Jourdan Serderidis finishes this special 1’09″5 behind Andreas Mikkelsen.
8h11 – ES9 : ⚠️ Adrien Fourmaux goes offshore and ends his race against a tree at low speed! The Frenchman understeered into the grass and was unable to stop before hitting bushes at low speed. He was able to leave without major damage, a priori.
8:10 a.m. – SS9 : ⏱️ After his little escapade in the grass, Andreas Mikkelsen finished the special with a first reference time of 11’05″4. « L’grip was changing all the time. I hit the left rear in the grass and spun. »
8h08 – ES9 : ⚠️ On a very slippery road, Andreas Mikkelsen gets trapped and goes wide… then spins! The Norwegian didn’t type anything and left straight away.
8:07 a.m – ES9 : The Toyota drivers are ready to bother the Hyundais to finish the day in the lead. Sébastien Ogier is 6″9 behind Thierry Neuville, while Elfyn Evans is 15″1 behind.
8h04 – ES9 : ☁️ Like yesterday, the fog is very present on the Austrian roads this Saturday, perhaps even thicker than Friday. The track is slightly wet as a result.
8:01 a.m – ES9 : ???????????? The Norwegian is back for this Saturday after his accident yesterday morning in SS5. He will have six stages to get back into shape before Super Sunday, where his aim will be to collect as many points as possible for Hyundai in the Manufacturers’ championship.
7h58 – ES9 : ???? And here we go for this new day on the Central European Rally, which takes place in Austria today, with the departure of Andreas Mikkelsen on SS9!
7h57 – ???? Here is the starting order for this 3rd day of the Central Europe Rally.
1) Mikkelsen
2) Serderides
3) Munster
4) Fourmaux
5) Pottery
6) Katsuta
7) Evans
8) Thank you
9) Ogier
10) Neuville
11) Gryazin (WRC2)
12) Solberg (WRC2)
7h55 – ???? In terms of tire choices for this first morning loop, if all the drivers chose to take only one spare wheel, the Toyota drivers chose to take one hard tire and four soft tires, compared to five soft tires for the rest of the Rally1 field.
7h53 – ???????? On the other hand, the title chances are much slimmer for Yohan Rossel in WRC2: the Frenchman, who absolutely must win in Central Europe to maintain his title chances, had a very difficult start to the weekend and is currently in 5th place, more than a minute and thirty seconds behind the leader, his Citroën teammate Nikolay Gryazin.
7h51 – ???? Obviously, in the current situation, Thierry Neuville is in an ideal position to win the title at the end of this weekend in Central Europe. If the positions remain like this after SS14, the Belgian would score 18 points this Saturday evening, compared to 13 for Ott Tänak, currently 3rd. Remember that he must score 2 more points than his teammate on this rally to be crowned world champion.
How can Thierry Neuville be crowned world champion in Central Europe?
7h49 – ???? Did you miss yesterday and want to know what happened? Don’t panic! Here is the video summary of the second day of racing held yesterday on the roads of the Czech Republic.
7h47 – ???? Here is the general classification at the dawn of this new stage of the Central European Rallywhich will be played in Austria today. Thierry Neuville leads the way ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tänak.
7h45 – ???? Hello everyone ! Welcome to this live commentary to follow together the third day of the Central European Rally, twelfth and penultimate round of the 2024 WRC season. The start of SS9 (Granite And Forest – 20.05 km) will be given in a few minutes, at 7:58 a.m.!
© Nikos Katikis / DPPI
READ ALSO > The program for the 2024 Central Europe Rally
