Neuville clocked the fastest time on the nearly 27-kilometre stage, edging Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by 0.6 seconds. The Belgian is chasing his first world title, and his current position keeps him well on track to secure the championship.
“Stage was OK, but the road changed a lot between the gravel crew, it was humid. We had a lot of notes saying it was wet, but it was actually dry,” Neuville explained.
Neuville’s lead over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier in the overall standings is now 6.9 seconds. Ogier, who lost 3.6 seconds on the stage, saw his second place under threat, with Hyundai’s Ott Tänak just 0.6 seconds behind him. Evans is also close, only 0.2 seconds behind Tänak in fourth place.
“We are just not fast enough, it was a clean stage but we are missing a bit of pace. The car feels nice to drive but we have to check,” Ogier remarked.
“For sure grip is higher and everything is more consistent. Not a great feeling but I try hard. We tried to shift the balance a bit,” Tänak added.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta holds fifth place, while Finland’s Sami Pajari is in sixth. Pajari trails the leader by about a minute.
“Quite nice, the grip was much better than the morning but still some slippery places. I need to say it was not quite nice, still tricky. I would like to be more close to the perfect, but it was always like this,” Pajari summarised.
One more stage remains on Friday, with the rally set to conclude on Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS7/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 55:27.0 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +6.9 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +7.5 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +7.7 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +23.5 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:00.5 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:14.9 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:56.7 |
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)
