WRC – Title chase goes to Japan as Tänak/Järveoja secure victory at Central European Rally

The fight for this year’s FIA World Rally Championship is set to go down to the wire after Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja claimed a dramatic victory at Central European Rally on Sunday.

In yet another twist to what has been a thrilling 2024 season, Tänak took the win by 7.0sec after Sébastien Ogier crashed his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID on a left-hand corner in the penultimate stage. Ogier had been trailing the Estonian by just 1.5sec at the time of his incident.

Tänak’s triumph, his second of the year, has set up a final-round showdown with Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID team-mate Thierry Neuville at next month’s FORUM8 Rally Japan.

Neuville, who had been on course to secure his maiden drivers’ title before a costly spin on Saturday morning, saw his championship lead cut from 29 to 25 points. He ended the rally in third place, 25.8sec behind GR Yaris pilot Elfyn Evans.

Despite Ogier’s misfortune, strong Super Sunday performances from Toyota men Evans and Takamoto Katsuta helped trim Hyundai’s advantage in the manufacturers’ championship to 15 points. Katsuta was the fastest driver on the final day, including the Wolf Power Stage, ensuring a tense finale in Japan where, for the first time since 2021, both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles will be decided at the final round.

Neuville, Ogier, and Tänak all took turns at leading the rally, which kicked off in Prague on Thursday and featured challenging asphalt stages spread across the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. Tänak struggled with his car’s set-up on Friday morning and initially languished in fifth place, but his pace improved as the event progressed, culminating in his 21st career victory.

“Let’s see for the championship,” said the 2019 WRC champion Tänak. “Obviously, with what happened to Séb… it is always difficult to fight a friend and then something like this happens, so it is difficult to find feelings. Everything changed, especially in the manufacturers’ championship. We took care to have a clean [final] stage and bring the points home.”

Katsuta’s strong Sunday run, combined with Ogier’s exit, saw him finish fourth overall, and 41.2sec behind Neuville – a solid finish for the Japanese runner before his home event next month.

Across the service park, Grégoire Munster climbed to fifth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID, equalling his career-best result after Sami Pajari rolled his GR Yaris on SS15.

WRC2 Gold for Gryazin/Aleksandrov

Sixth overall went to WRC2 winner Nikolay Gryazin, codriven by Konstantin Aleksandrov, who finished 26.1sec ahead of Oliver Solberg (Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS). 

The DG Sport Competition Citroën C3 driver seized the lead on the rally’s second stage and never surrendered, maintaining his position at the top throughout the tri-nation fixture. Gryazin racked up more than 10 fastest stage times over the course of the event and built a substantial advantage by Saturday evening, which he further extended over the closing stages.

While Gryazin is no longer in the hunt for the overall WRC2 title this year, his victory marked his third WRC2 Challenger triumph of the season – a result that keeps him firmly in contention for that title ahead of next month’s FORUM8 Rally Japan.

“Thank you to the team, the co-driver, the gravel crew,” he said. “I could not have done this without the information from them. Thank you for the team that did not let me slow down this weekend.”

While Gryazin celebrated, his DG Sport Competition team-mate Yohan Rossel endured a more difficult weekend.

The Frenchman needed to win the rally to keep his WRC2 championship hopes alive but ultimately finished languished down in more than 15 minutes back from the lead after two costly off-road excursions. His result means that Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg – neither of whom were scoring points this week – are now the only drivers in line for the WRC2 crown in Japan.

Filip Mareš delivered one of the standout performances of his career to finish second in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The Czech driver, a regular in the FIA European Rally Championship circles, distanced Miko Marczyk on Sunday to reach the finish 29.1sec clear of the Pole and secure a maiden podium in the WRC2 category.

Marczyk battled closely with his compatriot and fellow Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz throughout the event, but an overshoot by Kajetanowicz on Saturday’s final stage effectively ended their duel. Kajetanowicz eventually trailed Marczyk by 9.7sec, marking the end of his bid for this year’s WRC2 Challenger title.

2024 FIA Masters Cup champion Armin Kremer, codriven by his daugher Ella, secured the class win in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. 

Chatillon cheers the loudest, claiming maiden WRC3 win

Mattéo Chatillon navigated his Renault Clio Rally3 to victory, notching up his maiden WRC3 triumph in the process.

Starting Sunday with a 1min 5sec advantage over closest rival Filip Kohn, Chatillon could afford to apply a risk-free approach to the rally’s four remaining stages. While the gap closed slightly to 56.0sec, the Frenchman was never under threat of being overtaken.

Enjoying his prize drive for winning the FIA European Rally Championship Ford Fiesta Rally3 Trophy, Kohn could not repeat his victory on Central European Rally from one year ago, but was able to comfortably hold off Herman Gaßner for the runner-up spot.

Beginning the rally’s final day in fourth, 8.5sec down on Hubert Laskowski, local Renault Clio driver Gaßner wasted no time in overtaking his Polish rival, going second-quickest on the day’s opening stage, 15.2sec quicker the Fiesta driver.

There was more frustration for Czech driver Jan Černy. Following brake issues on his Fiesta on Friday and a 1min 4sec penalty on Saturday, the 34-year-old dropped 20.8 sec on the first running of Knaus Tabbert Am Hochwald, dropping a position to Tristan Charpentier as the pair rounded out the top six.

The 13th and final round of the 2024 WRC season, FORUM8 Rally Japan, takes place in Aichi from 21 – 24 November.