Tänak delivered a dominant fastest time on the 20-kilometre Granit und Wald stage. At the same time, the Estonian moved up to second place in the rally, overtaking Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier.
“The car feels better today than yesterday, extremely demanding conditions. Very tricky with all the fog,” Tänak summarised.
“It was not the best, but if we lose time it is never good. It’s damp now but no one knows how it will be in a couple of hours,” Ogier, on the other hand, commented.
Tänak was 3.9 seconds faster than Ogier on the stage and a whopping seven seconds quicker than his teammate Thierry Neuville. Neuville continues to lead the rally, but Tänak is now just 0.8 seconds behind. The top three drivers have closed in even more, with Neuville, Tänak, and Ogier now within 3.3 seconds of each other.
“Very tricky so I have to take it steady in those conditions. It is very risky in there, I didn’t want to make a mistake to open the day. I did what I have to do, let’s see if it’s the same on the later stages as it is much dirtier than expected,” Neuville remarked.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari remains in sixth place in the rally, just behind Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta. The Finnish driver is playing it safe, and he lost an additional 16.5 seconds to the leader on Saturday’s opening stage.
“My story more simple. I was too careful in many places. I saw many lines off road. I guess the stage has been quite tricky,” Pajari said.
Fog and the moisture it brought surprised several drivers. Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who had retired once on Friday, spun but fortunately slid onto the grass. M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux had a scarier moment when his car veered off into a field at high speed. The Frenchman got lucky as the car slid a long way across the grass before hitting a bush. Fourmaux was able to continue but lost half a minute.
“We have a huge issue on the front differential that we realised on the road section, I have no drive on the front. It’s like driving rear wheel drive all time,” Fourmaux explained.
Five more stages are set to be run on Saturday in Central European Rally. The rally will conclude on Sunday.
Central European Rally standings after SS9/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:15:39.7 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +0.8 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +3.3 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +12.7 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +36.3 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:37.7 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +2:08.4 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:29.9 |
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)
