The Hyundai driver had sustained slight damage to his car’s front during the opening stage earlier in the day, but as night fell, the Belgian laid down an impressive time on the first full special stage.
Neuville led the field, beating his teammate Ott Tänak by a full second on the Klatovy stage.
“I can’t be happy to be honest, I took off the aero in the front right by stupidly touching a straw bale. I didn’t know but it will handicap me for the whole morning tomorrow,” Neuville said, criticizing himself.
Neuville’s remarks refer to the fact that the first service break is only scheduled for later on Friday, after the morning loop.
With his effort, Neuville jumped to second place overall, just 0.9 seconds behind Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier. The French star was 1.1 seconds off Neuville’s pace on the Klatovy stage.
“Pretty slippery, the stage quite dusty. All okay, nothing special. It is often like this on a Thursday, tomorrow will be more action,” Ogier commented.
Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen sits third, 1.7 seconds behind Neuville. The top seven are tightly packed, separated by just 3.1 seconds. Following Mikkelsen on the leaderboard are Takamoto Katsuta, Ott Tänak, Adrien Fourmaux, and Elfyn Evans.
Sami Pajari, competing on tarmac with Toyota’s Rally1 car for the first time, trailed Neuville’s time by 5.4 seconds on the second stage, holding eighth place overall, 6.1 seconds behind the leader.
“It’s been quite clean so far, but there’s a lot to improve. If tomorrow’s conditions are similar, we’ll try to gradually improve,” Pajari remarked.
The Central European Rally continues on Friday, with stages held in the Czech Republic. The rally will then move to Austria and Germany for Saturday and Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS2/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 7:50.6 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +0.9 |
| 3. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +1.7 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2.0 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2.1 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +2.4 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +3.1 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +6.1 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +9.5 |
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)
