Neuville holds a 6.4-second advantage over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who secured the fastest time on the final stage of the day by half a second. Neuville, chasing his first WRC title, has made a solid start to his campaign in Central Europe.
“I am happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew the only thing that was important to us was to make it to the end. We played it safe and came through,” Neuville said.
“The stage was driveable. For some reason, we have a really bad split on the last one. We have had fun today. For sure we have to push tomorrow,” Ogier commented.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak sits in third place, just 7.8 seconds off the lead. Toyota’s Welsh driver Elfyn Evans had to give up some time on the final stage, dropping to fourth with a 15.1-second gap to the leader.
“We have had at least a clean day, looking forward to the next one,” Tänak said.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta holds fifth place, while Toyota’s Finnish driver Sami Pajari remains in sixth. However, Pajari lost significant time on the final stage, falling 28.2 seconds behind the leaders. Pajari’s overall deficit to Neuville is now around one and a half minutes.
“I would say (it was tricky), definitely the most tricky one of the day. Otherwise the afternoon loop was better and the grip was more consistent. Otherwise, this one was really hard, especially in the forest where things were a bit more slippery,” Pajari noted.
The Central European Rally continues on Saturday with six stages. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS8/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:04:40.0 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +6.4 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +7.8 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +15.1 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +38.6 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:28.2 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:33.4 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:27.4 |
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)
