Ogier broke the pole, the victory in the Central European Rally belongs to Tänak. Mareš in eighth place! – Sports.cz

Sébastien Ogier attacked for victory, but in the final heat at The Hochwald he slipped 600 meters from the start. First he went into the trees, and then he was stopped by a telegraph pole, which he knocked down. And it was an extraordinary end for the 40-year-old champion.

Ogier admitted that he was surprised by the different conditions on the track compared to the morning pass. And that the corner he hit was worse than he expected.

“This was the only erzeta that spies could not pass, so we had no information about developments on the way. It is an example of how excellent they are doing for us otherwise. But that’s no excuse for me, I’m angry with myself and I have to apologize to the people and the team,” said Ogier.

The Finn Sami Pajari was already breaking down in the morning.

Thus the way to victory at the Central European Rally opened for the Estonian Tänak, with whom Ogier was fighting for the lead during the weekend. He beat Briton Elfyn Evans by seven seconds, Neuville was third, who, however, maintains a lead of 25 points before the final race in Japan. He was also backed up by a strong performance on Saturday.

Before the last race of the season, which will be held in the second half of November, it is certain that one of the Hyundai pilots – Neuville or Tänak – will be the champion. A maximum of 30 points can be obtained in the competition, which is why Belgium is very popular.

“I am very happy. We got an unexpected result. It’s a reward because we had an up and down season. I would like to thank my wife who is at home taking care of two children. The youngest is only two weeks old. I love them. And I also thank the fans who gave us incredible support,” said Mareš at the finish line.

Thanks to the success of his life, he took care of the best Czech result in the World Championship since 2019, when Jan Kopecký was eighth in Rally Portugal.