Mikkelsen and Katsuta return for Central Europe Rally, 44 entries in total

The penultimate round of the 2024 calendar, the second edition of the Rally Central Europe – created in 2023 and contested in three different countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Austria) – will see 44 crews starting from Passau, Bavaria, on October 17. A field almost halved compared to 2023 (68 entries), but which will still consist of 10 Rally1 for the premier category.

For the return of WRC on asphalt, Hyundai logically decided to call on a specialist to drive the third i20 N Rally1: Andreas Mikkelsen will compete in the European rally, his fourth engagement with the Korean firm this season. He will accompany the two regular drivers for the season, the championship leader Thierry Neuville et Ott Tänak, with the Constructors' Championship in mind.

At Toyota, there will be four GR Yaris Rally1 entered in central Europe: if we will obviously find Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier, Takamoto Katsuta will make his return. The Japanese driver was sidelined for the Rally Chile in favor of Sami Pajari, who will also contest the Central Europe Rally on the fourth Yaris. The duel between the two drivers will be interesting to follow and possibly decisive for the 2025 season!

Finally, at M-Sport, Adrien fourmaux and Gregoire Munster will be joined by gentlemen driver Jourdan Serderidis, who has decided to add the European asphalt event to his calendar. The Greek will drive a Ford Puma without its hybrid system.

Despite a limited field, there will still be some great names in WRC2, where the title could be awarded since we will find two of the main protagonists of the championship: Oliver Solberg in his Skoda Fabia and Yohan Rossel in the Citroën C3. A match that will be refereed by drivers like Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën), Gus Greensmith (Skoda) or Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda).

Finally, let's not forget the presence of the three female pilots selected following the “Beyond Rally” detection, organized in mid-September in Poland. Claire Schönborn, Suvi Jyrkiäinen and Lyssia Baudet will be at the start of the European event at the wheel of Ford Fiesta Rally3.

> The entry list for the Central Europe Rally is available HERE

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