The French driver opened up a slight advantage over Thierry Neuville after the first two stages of the Central European Rally. Sébastien Ogier He made an impressive start and achieved a margin of nine tenths over the Belgian, who can win their first WRC title during this weekend.
Gaul started with a victory in Velka Chuchleorganized around a racecourse near Prague, after leading by six tenths Takamoto Katsuta on his return to the championship. After that, he was more than a second behind the overall leader at Klatovy, as darkness fell on the slippery asphalt road, although he suffered a slight exit.
Thierry Neuville took advantage of his first attempt to set the tone despite the cosmetic damage suffered on the front right side of his i20 N after colliding with a haystack. The Belgian was a second faster than his opponent for the crown, Ott Tanakwhich he must surpass by two points this weekend to win the title.
“I can't really be happy. I lost aerodynamics on the right front because of a stupid contact with a haystack, it's going to hurt me all day tomorrow, let's see if it doesn't wasn't a disaster,” he said. .
Andreas Mikkelsen He arrived at Friday's special stages in third position overall, almost two seconds behind, and He attributed his speed to new and different settings, suited to his riding style.after copying his teammates' settings from previous asphalt tests: “It was fun, it's the first time I've enjoyed driving the car on asphalt. I changed the settings a lot and it was amazing, It's going very well, I haven't had this feeling for a long time, I'm looking forward to the weekend.”
Takamoto Katsuta too He took advantage of the thrills behind the wheel of his GR Yaris to finish the day in fourth position overall.two seconds behind the lead: “The time is very good, I didn't push hard, but I really like this car. It was getting darker and darker, but all the information from the pace note is fine, I We will have to be a little more consistent tomorrow, because it is the most important day of the rally.
Ott Tanak completes the top five, three tenths faster than Adrien Fourmuax, who finishes ahead Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari, who competed for the first time in the asphalt category. Behind them they finished Grégoire Munsterand the WRC2 title contender, Olivier Solbergalthough the latter is not a point for the Central European Rally championship.
His rival for the crown, Yohan Rossel, was incredibly lucky not to overturn his Citroën when going off the track and hitting a haystack which put the vehicle on two wheels, causing him to lose more than a half minute. Next comes the six stages in the Czech Republic, before heading to Germany and Austria for the remainder of the weekend.
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