Sebastien Ogier holds off Kalle Rovanpera in Central European Rally
18th October 2025Toyota’s eight-time world champion, Sebastien Ogier, continues to lead the World Rally Championship’s Central European Rally as teammate Kalle Rovanpera trails close behind.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Ogier remains the rally leader of CER despite a hungry Finn as the two-time world champion, Rovanpera, cut down the eight-time champions’ advantage to 0.6 seconds after the first full day of running.
Despite the battle of the world champions, drama struck as the pack arrived in the Czech Republic as Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville hit a bank upon landing after a narrow jump. He was able to escape without much damage, just a puncture.
However, M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster did not escape lightly as Munster also hit the bank at the same spot. The M-Sport driver suffered right-rear suspension damage and retired from the day.
In the overall standings, Toyota has firmed their grip on the rally lead and look on course to seal the manufacturers title this weekend, leading a 1-2-3 into the third day of the rally.
Ogier heads the Toyota trio with an elapsed rally time of one hour, three minutes and 29.8 seconds. Rovanpera trails behind on the Frenchman’s heels as Elfyn Evans rounds out the top three, 29.5 seconds off the pace of Ogier.
It leaves Hyundai’s Ott Tanak best of the rest in fourth ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, fifth. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Neuville completed the day down in sixth and eighth, sandwiching the final Toyota of Sami Pajari in seventh.
M-Sport Ford’s Joshua McErlean completed the top 10 for the Rally1 runners, two minutes and 50.2 seconds behind the leading time, ahead of the 2025 WRC drivers champion Oliver Solberg, who stands 10th overall.
Read more WRC here:
- Sebastien Ogier takes overnight lead of WRC Central European Rally
- Sebastien Ogier tops first run of Central European Rally shakedown
- Central European Rally: the schedule of the WRC weekend
- Hyundai make big WRC signing ahead of upcoming Central European Rally
- Central European Rally: the latest forecast ahead of the rally
- Opinion: Oliver Solberg WILL be Kalle Rovanpera’s WRC replacement in 2026
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
You can also support us on Patreon or our website!
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.
