Teammate Thierry Neuville made a costly mistake on the previous special stage, and Tänak now has an unexpected chance to extend the championship battle to Japan.
Tänak has certainly grabbed this opportunity, as the Estonian driver set the fastest time on the first special stage of the afternoon loop. He beat Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier by 3.4 seconds on the second pass of the Granit und Wald stage.
“Let’s see, we’ll try our best. Conditions are still not easy but at least we know what to do from the first pass,” Tänak commented.
However, Ogier still retained his rally lead. The gap between Ogier and Tänak is now just 1.1 seconds. When asked for some “Seb Ogier magic” at the end of the stage, the Frenchman responded gruffly.
“Still in the lead. You can try yourself,” Ogier snapped.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was 3.4 seconds slower than Tänak and continues to hold third place. The Welshman is now 8.1 seconds behind the overall leader.
Championship contender Neuville remains in fourth. He’s focused on securing good points from the long rally and isn’t taking any unnecessary risks.
“We had a clean stage through, there is nothing we can do at the moment,” Neuville explained.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta continued their steady performances. Katsuta is still in fifth, with Pajari in sixth.
Central European Rally has two more stages left to run on Saturday, with the rally concluding on Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS12/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 1:37:58.2 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +4.6 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.3 |
| 4. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +33.6 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:02.4 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:49.9 |
| 7. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:51.0 |
| 8. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +5:50.7 |
| 9. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +6:28.5 |
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)
