Central European Rally: Neuville leads inaugural opening day ahead of Tanak

27th October 2023 0 By Kamron Kent

Hyundai’s leading driver, Thierry Neuville, took the lead in the inaugural Central European Rally ahead of Rally Chile winner Ott Tanak, M-Sport Ford, which got underway on Thursday.

In the first of a tri-country rally, consisting of stages in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, it was the Belgian Hyundai who took the lead before the pack ventured back to South-East Germany for the Passau service park.

Neuville started the day down in third after the Velka Cluchle super special stage, in the first of two super special stages. However, on the Circuit of Klatovy, Neuville took a narrow 1.2s lead over Tanak as darkness began to fall. Returning eight-time WRC world champion Sebastien Ogier occupied the final podium spot.

Toyota teammate to Ogier, Kalle Rovanpera, has a clear opportunity to seal the world title this weekend sat in fourth, a tenth behind his veteran teammate. Rovanpera’s efforts were helped by his title rival and teammate, Elfyn Evans who had overshot a junction in the second stage and lost five seconds as a result.

The Welshman sat in eighth, 10.7s off Neuville’s pace but – more importantly – 4.8 seconds behind Rovanpera in the championship fight.

Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen, Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and M-Sport Ford’s Pierre-Louis Loubet separated the two championship rivals in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi and Gregoire Munster, Ford, completed the top 10.

Lappi would have had the opportunity to sit in third place at the end of the first day, 3.6 seconds behind Neuville’s best time, had he not jumped the start at the opening super special stage which added 10 seconds to his time.

121.80km lined up for Friday’s action in the Czech Republic as six stages lined up the second day of running.

That’s all for the article; Central European Rally: Neuville leads inaugural opening day ahead of Tanak!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

CategoryNews Rallying WRC