Kalle Rovanpera boosted his hopes of a third World Rally Championship title after taking a dominant victory at the Central European Rally, helping Toyota seal a ninth constructors’ crown.
A matter of days after announcing plans to leave the WRC at the end of the year for a bold career move to single seater racing, the Finn delivered a stunning display to claim a third win of the year as the WRC returned to asphalt.
Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen successfully navigated 17 tricky stages held in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria to seal a valuable 18th career win by 43.7s from title rival and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans, who regained the championship lead. Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, an outside shot at the title, had to settle for the final place on the podium after losing grip of second by 5.6s on the final Power Stage.
Toyota’s fifth consecutive WRC manufacturers’ crown leaves the Japanese brand only one behind the WRC most decorated manufacturer: Lancia.
The battle for victory took a huge twist on stage 10 where Ogier crashed from the lead in spectacular fashion. A puncture that had gone undetected by his GR Yaris’ tyre pressure alarm system resulted in Ogier veering off the road at speed and into a tree.
It marked the Frenchman’s first retirement of the season, blowing the title race wide open in the process.
Reigning world champion Neuville retired from the rally after a nasty crash into a bridge on Sunday morning that cancelled stage 15. Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe returned to service after undergoing precautionary checks at a nearby hospital.
Sami Pajari enjoyed a trouble-free rally to finish sixth ahead of M-Sport-Ford’s Josh McErlean, who matched his career best finish in seventh. McErlean’s team-mate Gregoire Munster finished the rally under Super Rally rules after retiring on Friday due to broken rear suspension caused by the same bank Neuville hit in stage five.
Newly crowned WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg was the fastest of the Rally2 field in eighth overall, but wasn’t eligible to score points. Therefore, the WRC2 class was won by Czech driver Jan Cerny after incidents for Nikolay Gryazin, Leo Rossel and Alejandro Cachon.
