TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s pursuit of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship titles enters an exciting new phase when the roads of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria host the Central European Rally on October 16-19.
Following seven successive events on gravel, drivers now face two consecutive rallies on challenging asphalt roads which could be crucial in this season’s championship fight, with the Central European Rally to be followed just three weeks later by Rally Japan.
With three rounds remaining, TGR-WRT has a lead of 125 points in the manufacturers’ championship, and a first chance to seal a fifth successive crown at Central European Rally if it can finish the weekend with a lead of 120 points or more.
Three of the team’s drivers head a thrilling contest for the drivers’ title, with Sébastien Ogier now on top of the standings following back-to-back victories on South American gravel in Paraguay and Chile. Elfyn Evans was a strong second in both those events and is just two points behind together with co-driver Scott Martin, who is poised to make a landmark 200th WRC start in Central Europe. Kalle Rovanperä remains firmly in the fight, 21 points from the lead, as he returns to a surface on which he took a dominant win at Rally Islas Canarias in April.
With this trio nominated to score manufacturers’ points, Takamoto Katsuta drives a fourth TGR-WRT entry with his sights set on building up to his home rally in Japan. Sami Pajari competes under the TGR-WRT2 banner, looking to build upon a strong run in Chile on another event where he gained initial experience with a Rally1 car last year.
Freshly crowned WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg drives one of five GR Yaris Rally2 cars on the entry list, even though the Printsport-run driver is no longer eligible to score points. Alejandro Cachón, entered by Toyota Spain and run by Teo Martín Motorsport, will compete for WRC2 honours along with Czech driver Filip Mareš (Toyota Dolák) who finished second in the class on his home event last year, and Germany’s Fabio Schwarz (Armin Schwarz Driving Experience). Another German driver, Philip Geipel, also drives on home roads with Speedlife Motorsport.
The German city of Passau once more hosts the service park for the Central European Rally, which was first held in 2023 as the first WRC round to feature stages in three different countries. The character of the stages varies from one region to another and the weather – in the middle of the European autumn – can also be changeable, making the roads more slippery with rain, mud and leaves.
This year the rally starts from Passau with two passes of a stage around Bad Griesbach on Thursday afternoon. Friday’s route features one stage in each of the three countries, each to be run twice. Saturday then has one German stage and two on Czech roads, each run twice. Sunday’s final day features two passes of Beyond Borders (spanning Germany and Austria) and the all-Austrian Mühltal test, the second pass of which serves as the rally-ending Power Stage.
Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“After our good results in South America, we’re in a very good position going into the Central European Rally. We will need a good result if we want to clinch the manufacturers’ championship at the first opportunity, but at the same time, our drivers don’t need to feel pressure from that side and can focus on their fight for the drivers’ title, which is very tight. We’ve seen in previous editions that this can be a very difficult rally, especially with the autumnal weather, and driving in three different countries where the character of the roads differs in each one. The grip level is changing, there are a lot of cuts which can be muddy, and the mornings especially can be cold. Mistakes can happen easily in these conditions. Seb, Elfyn and Kalle all still have good chances for the title, but none of them can really afford a non-finish at this stage of the year. For Taka, this is a chance to get a good feeling on asphalt before Rally Japan, the most important one of the year for him. Sami meanwhile has been building his confidence and performance well lately and he can also be good on asphalt, so I’m sure a strong result could be possible for him too.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“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.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“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.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“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.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“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 (Driver car 5)
“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.”
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