Thierry Neuville’s dream of securing his first FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) title took a heavy blow on Saturday after a turbulent morning saw him drop from first to fourth at the Central European Rally.
After leading by 6.4 seconds on Friday, Neuville’s near-flawless run hit a wall—twice—during the high-speed *Beyond Borders* stage, which crossed the German-Austrian border. Within the span of a minute, the Belgian suffered two costly off-road incidents.
The first spin saw him lose valuable time, but the second was disastrous. His Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID got stuck in a concrete drainage ditch, costing him almost 40 seconds to recover and knocking him out of the podium places.
Ogier retakes the lead, Tänak in hot pursuit
The chaos handed Sébastien Ogier the lead for the first time since Friday morning. The eight-time world champion fought off a fierce challenge from Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who had briefly edged ahead after Saturday’s opening stage. Ogier set three fastest times compared to Tänak’s two and carries a slim 5.2-second advantage into Sunday’s four-stage showdown.
With Saturday’s setbacks, the WRC title fight looks destined to be decided at the season finale in Japan. Neuville has surrendered eight points to Ogier and three to Elfyn Evans, who now sits third, 25.8 seconds ahead of the Belgian. More crucially, Neuville lost five points to Tänak—his closest rival for the title—and must outscore the Estonian by two points to clinch the crown this weekend.
“There is disappointment, for sure, but the rally isn’t over, and tomorrow will be exciting,” Neuville said. “We paid the price today. It was definitely a mistake during the recce with the pace notes—they were too fast. I’m a bit disappointed about that, but it is what it is.”
Katsuta, Pajari, and Toyota battle on
Takamoto Katsuta struggled through the day, finishing fifth after incurring a 16-second time penalty on SS9 for speeding in a virtual chicane. The Japanese driver exceeded the speed limit by 8 km/h and was penalised two seconds for every kilometre over the limit.
Sixth place went to his Toyota teammate Sami Pajari, while M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster held on to eighth. It was a day to forget for Munster’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux, who retired after SS10 with a front differential failure that compromised his car’s handling and led to two off-road excursions.
Gryazin dominates WRC2
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin delivered a commanding performance, leading by nearly two minutes in his Citroën C3. Filip Mareš (Toyota GR Yaris) trails him in second, while Oliver Solberg, driving a Škoda Fabia RS, sits between them in ninth overall, although Solberg is not eligible for WRC2 points this weekend.
Sunday showdown awaits
The rally concludes with Sunday’s decisive leg, featuring two runs through the Knaus Tabbert Am Hochwald stage and the Passauer Land test. The second run of Passauer Land will serve as the Wolf Power Stage, with action kicking off at 13:15 local time. With the title race hanging by a thread, all eyes are on Neuville as he looks to salvage his championship bid.
Overall Standings after SS14 of SS18
01: S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) – 2h 10m 12.7s
02: O. Tänak/M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) + 5.2s
03: E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) + 14.0s
04: T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) + 39.8s
05: T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) + 1m 31.8s
06: S. Pajari/E. Mälkönen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) + 2m 07.3s
07: G. Munster/L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) + 3m 22.7s
08: N. Gryazin/K. Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) + 7m 39.6s
09: O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 8m 10.6s
10: F. Mareš/R. Bucha (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) + 9m 30.4s
