Central Europe Rally – SS5: Ogier takes back precious seconds from Rovanperä

Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier are truly playing cat and mouse at the start of the second day of the Rally from Central Europe WRC. While he regained a slight lead during the first special stage of the day (SS3), the Frenchman saw it disappear on the following course. Winner of SS5 with a time of 12:12.1, he nevertheless took three precious seconds from the Finn, who finished 2nd (+ 3.3s).

Sébastien Ogier speaks after SS5: “A difficult stage, not easy to be at the limit everywhere.” And Kalle Rovanperä adds: "It was good, as we expected, this one was going to be tricky. I would say I lost a lot of time at the beginning, I could have been more daring in the forest." Behind this duo, disappointment is in store for Evans, 3rd in SS5 with a delay of 13 seconds on the Frenchman at the finish. "I didn't expect to lose so much, but we also had a little slip-up. Well done to Seb."

Adrien fourmaux finished SS5 in sixth place, and lost three places overall. The third stage of the day was costly for the Frenchman, who is now 29,7 seconds behind the leader and 5,6 seconds behind the podium. At the finish, he complained about the dirt on the road.

The passage of Thierry Neuville is not easy. After a puncture on the right rear tire, the Belgian damaged his right side after a jump. He completed the course more than a minute behind. Without a major turnaround, he can write off the podium of the Central Europe Rally. Frustrated after a complicated stage, he confides: "We went over a jump and landed slightly on our right side, which punctured the tire. All the cut protection had been moved, it didn't match what we had seen a few days earlier." Shortly after the Belgian's passage, Grégoire Munster also suffered the consequences of this jump. The consequences were more serious for the Ford driver, who was forced to abandon the stage. The stage was briefly interrupted after the incident.

In WRC2, Alejandro Cachón continues to set the pace, gaining seconds on Léo Rossel. During the fifth special, he dominates once again. By completing SS5 in 13:13.2, he significantly widens the gap to Léo Rossel, third. 28.3 seconds now separate the two men in the overall standings. However, despite not being entered in the Rally (he will not score any championship points), Oliver Solberg – already the champion – is 6 seconds ahead of the Spaniard in the fight for the event victory. Nikolay Gryazin stopped after 8 kilometers due to a puncture.

Hostilities will resume at 2:45 p.m. in Central Europe, for the Col de Jan 14 special, 23.37 km long.

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WRC – Central European Rally
The classification of SS5:

The general classification after stage 5:

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