Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier made a driving error early in the stage and crashed heavily. The rear of Ogier’s car went deep into the forest, and his rally came to a sudden halt.
Ogier had only driven around 700 metres of the stage before the crash. His car appeared to be severely damaged, forcing the Frenchman to retire from the event.
This means that Ogier’s last theoretical chance at the drivers’ world championship is now gone. It was also a major blow for Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship battle, as Ogier will no longer carry over the conditional points he earned yesterday.
Ogier has made a driving error in three consecutive rallies now. This is quite unprecedented, as the Frenchman is not known for being error-prone.
The fastest on the penultimate stage was Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who beat Hyundai’s Ott Tänak by one second.
Ott Tänak continues to lead the rally. Evans is now in second place, 9.4 seconds behind.
In the Super Sunday standings, Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta is leading, with Tänak just 0.6 seconds behind. Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux is third in the Super Sunday results, trailing by 1.1 seconds.
There is now only the Power Stage left in the Central European Rally. It will be of great significance for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship battles.
Central European Rally standings after SS17/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 2:23:56.9 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +1.5 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.9 |
| 4. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +37.9 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:24.0 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:31.2 |
| 7. | Nikolay Grjazin | Citroen | +8:27.8 |
| 8. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +8:50.7 |
Super Sunday standings after SS3/4:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | 19:48.8 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +0.6 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1.1 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1.2 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +6.8 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +20.2 |
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)
