Central European Rally 2025 Preview

We really are getting to the crunch time in this seasons championship battle for the world title for driver and co-drivers. Coming into this round which is made up of roads in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. Just two points separate the top two crews at the top of the championship with Seb and Vincent ahead of teammates Elfyn and Scott.

 

Meanwhile their other teammates, Kalle and Jonne are twenty-one points from their French teammates as they begin the end of their rally careers at the top of the rallying world. Yes it was announced towards the end of last week that the double Finnish world champions will retire at the end of the year.

 

At Hyundai the gap between Ott and Martin to the championship leaders is thirty-three points. Mathematically they could still win their second title and would need to win the last three rounds to take this year’s title, whilst the reigning champions have given up any chance of retaining their title.

 

The M-Sport crews will be learning again on this round, but both of the crews know how to drive on tarmac surfaces. It will be interesting to see how they get on this weekend.

 

Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the drivers.

Weekend at a Glance

• Cars take to the stages for the first time on Thursday evening, with two loops of Golf und Therme (SS1/2, 12.83km) marking the start of the weekend.
• Friday’s action takes crews across all three countries, with two loops of Granit und Wald (SS3/8, 10.86km), Böhmerwald (SS4/7, 15.27km) and Col de Jan (SS5/6, 23.37km).
• Saturday is the longest day of the weekend, with two loops of Made in FRG (SS9/14, 14.30km), Keply (SS10/12, 21.95km) and Klatovy (SS11/13, 15.57km) covering 103.64km.
• Sunday concludes the penultimate tarmac round of the season with two loops of Beyond Borders (SS15/17, 12.37km) and Mühltal (SS16/18, 26.52km).

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It was good to get back on the podium in both South American rallies after a long run of gravel rounds, and now we’re looking forward to being back on asphalt and to a different challenge in these next events. There’s an element of the unknown with conditions that will be very different to the last asphalt event in the Canaries. The Central European Rally covers quite a large area so there’s a few variations in surface and character, and the grip levels can be quite mixed. There’s sections that are out in the open and others that are more narrow under the trees. There can also be muddy places, especially if there’s rain in the build-up to the rally, but we have to wait and see how the stages look this year and give it our best.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It feels very good to be where we are and fighting for this championship, but things are still very close, and I know that these last rallies are going to be tough. I expect everyone will be giving their best, and I know that our competitors can be strong on asphalt, so it’s very much game on and I’m looking forward to an intense battle. It’s nice to have this rally in Central Europe, close to my current home and with lots of fan support. It can be a demanding rally but we had great speed last year, we’ve had some good pre-event testing and a good feeling in the car, and I’ll definitely try my best to bring a top result.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“The South American events didn’t go our way but with three rallies to go, we are still in the fight and we’re not giving up. It’s going to be interesting to go back to asphalt. The Central European Rally doesn’t have nice clean asphalt like we had in Canaries, as there’s quite a lot of cuts and mud. So it’s definitely a tricky rally, but it’s a nice event all the same and we’ll try to make it a good one. We had good pace in 2023, and we have good memories from then of when we won the title. We’ve had a nice pre-event test and the feeling with the car is quite good, so let’s see what this year’s rally brings.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m very happy to be going back to asphalt for the next two rallies. They’re both difficult rallies in terms of the conditions and the changing grip levels. Central Europe especially is quite a unique challenge with stages in three different countries, and a lot of cutting and mud on the road. We need to prepare well, particularly as it’s our first time driving with this year’s tyres on this kind of rally. After our test we have quite a good feeling and hopefully everything works well. Last year it was a good rally for me, and we took maximum points on Sunday. We’ll try to repeat that speed and get a good result, also looking towards Rally Japan.”

Sami Pajari

“We have had some really positive rallies recently with some good speed, and it’s been enjoyable to be pushing hard and fighting for positions. Now we come to a totally different challenge, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t have another good rally. I enjoy driving on asphalt and I feel my performance so far on this surface has been quite fine: already last year when we drove this event in Rally1, some stages were really good, and in Canaries too the speed was really good, even if we unfortunately didn’t get the result at the end. This can be a really tricky rally in places and the weather can be hard to predict, but I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“We’ve competed at Central European Rally a few times now, so we have a good sense of what to expect. This is an event that is very dependent on the weather conditions; there’s a lot of cuts and the road can become extremely dirty. The further back you are in the road order, the more surprises you encounter – every car pulls more dirt on to the road. Driving style is also key, especially with grip levels changing dramatically, particularly after rain. Experience really counts here. We are still in the hunt for the championship, so delivering a top performance is absolutely essential.”

Thierry Neuville

“I always enjoy Central European Rally, because it’s not too far from home, but it’s an unpredictable event. Running in October means the weather conditions and changing temperatures make this event particularly challenging. We’ve experienced a lot of rain in previous years, which make grip levels really hard for us to predict. This, combined with the amount of cuts we take, increases the risk of punctures. It’s all about finding the right balance of risk and reward, and ideally we’ll have drier, more stable conditions. The recce will be crucial in helping us assess this. I’m determined to continue our podium streak at Central European Rally, so we’ll be pushing for the win until the very end.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Central European Rally is one of the toughest events on the calendar. With low grip levels and stages that span three countries, it can feel like doing multiple rallies in one weekend. The stages in Czechia are narrow and bumpy with muddy cuts, while Germany and Austria have smoother and wider roads. This contrast makes it harder to judge the grip and choose the right tyres, especially with the leaves that tend to pollute the roads. After seven gravel rallies, switching back to tarmac requires a completely different driving style and tyre strategy; precision is everything at this event. I won in Rally2 here in 2023, but last year was tough. As the season winds down, we’re aiming to push hard and target the podium steps.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“Central Europe is a special event to me because it’s the first Tarmac event I competed on in the Rally1 car back in 2024. We’ve had some good results here in the past, and the conditions are quite similar to what I used to drive in Belgium and Luxembourg, so coming back to my roots with the Puma is always very special. We’ve worked hard to have a good feeling with the car on Tarmac, so let’s see how it goes; the weather across the three countries can certainly pose a challenge on this event.”

Josh McErlean

“The Central European Rally is a demanding Tarmac event, and a great opportunity to continue building my experience in the Puma Rally1 across all three countries. The goal is to find a strong rhythm, adapt to the changing grip levels, and develop confidence in the car across all conditions and hopefully end with a strong result.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“The time since winning the championship in Chile has been really nice. We had time to really share the moment with the team at Printsport, all of our partners, friends and family and, of course, everybody at Toyota for making this amazing car.

“But now, it’s back to the business. Elliott and me are really looking forward to this week, Central European Rally is always a big challenge. The roads vary quite a lot from day-to-day and country-to-country and then there’s the weather… if it stays dry and quite warm then the stages themselves can stay quite clean and keep some grip.

“It’s quite unlikely to stay dry and the roads will get a lot of mud and gravel pulled to them – it’s a big part of the challenge on this event.

“I think it’s fair to say I don’t have so much experience for the Tarmac, I didn’t do this event for the first year and I have missed some other asphalt rounds in the last few years. I want to use this week to find out more from the car and to understand how we can push, what we can do with the set-up for the car and, basically, what we can do to go faster.

“This week is a lot about taking more experience for me.

“At the same time, we always see a lot of fans coming from the three countries and from further away – that’s fantastic! It’s one of the things I love from rallying in this part of the world, we see and get to meet fans from so many places. It’s going to be a cool week.”

 

Summary

It’s going to be a very interesting round and being first or second on the road will be crucial to the hopes of the top two crews in the championship. The road will get messier as there will be lots of road cutting.