Evans handled the 24-kilometre stage, which started in Germany and ended in Austria, best of the pack in the wet conditions. The Welshman set the fastest time, 1.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Sebastien Ogier.
“Very different from when the gravel crew went through, the fog brought some moisture. Sometimes bad, sometimes not. Difficult to judge,” Evans said.
Evans remains in fourth place overall, but he’s within touching distance of the lead, just ten seconds behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who leads the rally.
Neuville was third-fastest on the Beyond Borders stage, finishing 2.3 seconds behind Evans. In the overall standings, Neuville holds a 2.2-second lead over Ogier, who moved back ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tänak into second place.
“Much more dirty than expected and more than yesterday. Even 2nd pass was more enjoyable yesterday. Lots of cuts with anti-cuts and still dirt on the road. We’re following our plan,” Neuville commented.
Of the top four, Tänak struggled the most on the longest stage of the day, losing 7.2 seconds to Evans.
“Nothing.. nothing. All cool. I don’t know (why I lost time),” Tänak said briefly.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta remains in fifth place, but the Japanese driver is now 40 seconds behind the leader. Sami Pajari, running in sixth, has fallen nearly two minutes off the top spot.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux’s troubles continued on Saturday’s second tarmac stage. The Frenchman went off the road twice, damaging the rear of his Ford Puma. He lost nearly six minutes and dropped out of the top ten. Fourmaux ultimately retired from the Saturday of the rally after the stage.
Four more stages remain on Saturday in Central European Rally. The rally will conclude on Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS 10/18
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:28:32.2 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +2.2 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +5.7 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +10.4 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +40.9 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:48.5 |
| 7. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:41.1 |
| 8. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +5:17.1 |
| 9. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +5:57.7 |
| 10. | Filip Mares | Toyota | +6:29.4 |
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)
