Ogier set the fastest time on the 11.78 km Klatovy stage, beating teammate Takamoto Katsuta by 1.5 seconds. Elfyn Evans secured a Toyota 1-2-3, trailing Ogier by 2.2 seconds.
In the overall standings, Ogier leads by 3.2 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Katsuta is in third, just 0.3 seconds behind Neuville. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak holds fourth place ahead of Evans. The top five are separated by only 5.3 seconds.
“It was a good one, not perfect, it is hard to make it perfect with a bumpy road and a couple of places where it is more slippery. But it is a good start,” Ogier commented.
“It was better than last night, no problem,” Tänak said.
After missing the Rally Chile, Katsuta was pleased with his morning start, eager to make an impact in Central Europe.
“A bit of pollution, a lot of anticuts so it was not messy. Hopefully the next one is similar. I am happy so far,” Katsuta remarked.
Sami Pajari, competing in his first tarmac rally in a Toyota Rally1 car, started the stage strongly and was even in the mix for the fastest time. However, a technical issue towards the end of the stage cost him 3.7 seconds. Pajari currently sits eighth overall, 9.8 seconds behind the leader.
“Around halfway through the stage, I lost hybrid for whatever reason, otherwise I had a good clean stage. Now we need to investigate how that happened,” Pajari explained.
The Central European Rally continues with five more stages in the Czech Republic on Friday. The weekend’s stages will take place in Austria and Germany.
Central European Rally standings after SS3/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 13:44.6 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +3.2 |
| 3. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +3.5 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +4.9 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +5.3 |
| 6. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +5.8 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +8.3 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +9.8 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +17.8 |
Central European Rally itinerary (CET) :
Thursday, 17 October 09.31 Shakedown: Točná (2.11 km) 15.05 SS1: SSS Velká Chuchle (2.55 km) 18.26 SS2: Klatovy 1 (11.78 km) Friday, 18 October 08.02 SS3: Klatovy 2 (11.78 km) 09.32 SS4: Strašín 1 (26.69 km) 10.42 SS5: Šumavské Hoštice 1 (16.85 km) 13.11 SS6: Klatovy 3 (11.78 km) 14.28 Remote Service (30 min) 16.14 SS7: Strašín 2 (26.69 km) 17.24 SS8: Šumavské Hoštice 2 (16.85 km) Saturday, 19 October 07.58 SS9: Granit und Wald 1 (20.05 km) 09.05 SS10: Beyond Borders 1 (24.33 km) 10.34 SS11: Schärdinger Innviertel 1 (17.35 km) 12.10 Service (40 min) 14.28 SS12: Granit und Wald 2 (20.05 km) 15.35 SS13: Beyond Borders 2 (24.33 km) 17.04 SS14: Schärdinger Innviertel 2 (17.35 km) Sunday, 20 October 09.11 SS15: Am Hochwald 1 (12.17 km) 10.35 SS16: Passauer Land 1 (14.87 km) 11.33 SS17: Am Hochwald 2 (12.17 km) 13.15 SS18: Passauer Land 2 (14.87 km)
