Just four stages stand between Kalle Rovanperä and back-to-back FIA World Rally Championship titles after his only title rival Elfyn Evans crashed out of Central European Rally on Saturday.

Having dominated Thursday’s treacherous tests in the Czech Republic to build a commanding rally lead, 23-year-old Rovanperä was already doing more than enough to successfully defend his 2022 WRC drivers’ crown.

A spin on Saturday’s second stage allowed Thierry Neuville to slash the Finn’s advantage by more than half, but the dynamic changed later in the morning when Rovanperä’s Toyota GR Yaris team-mate Evans, who had been sitting third overall, crashed out the rally.

Evans needed to outscore his colleague by at least one point at this penultimate round to keep the fight going, but he came unstuck on a slippery right-hand bend and slid into a barn. The Welshman will restart on Sunday in a desperate bid to salvage bonus points from the Wolf Power Stage.

Sacrificing his chances of the outright rally win to focus on his championship prospects, Rovanperä dialled back his speed. Neuville was left to build a 26.2-second overnight lead in his Hyundai i20 N.

“It’s good to be at the finish of the day,” said Rovanperä, who simply needs a drama-free run through the closing stages to clinch the title. “It’s tough out there. I think these are the most tough Tarmac rally conditions I have ever seen.”

Neuville added: “All afternoon we tried to manage the gap and I am happy to finish the day in the lead of the rally. We are following our target.”

Ott Tänak ensured that all three top-line manufacturers ended the day on the podium, bringing his Ford Puma to the end in a lonely third overall. A non-functioning handbrake caused the M-Sport man some frustrations in SS14, and he trailed Rovanperä by over one minute with Sébastien Ogier 31.1sec behind.

The battle for fifth place was raging between Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen. Katsuta struggled to feel confident on the greasy asphalt roads in the morning but upped his pace in the afternoon to claim the position by 10.9sec.

Puma hotshot Grégoire Munster was seventh overall ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet. Adrien Fourmaux and Emil Lindholm, leader of the WRC2 category in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, completed the leaderboard.

Sunday’s finale boasts two stages, each run twice, across two countries. Böhmerwald in Austria is first up before Passauer Land in Germany, the second pass of which forms the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

Leading positions after Saturday:
1. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe                        Hyundai i20 N                    2h 18m 34.5s
2. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen                       Toyota GR Yaris                 +26.2s
3. O Tänak / M Järveoja                                                 Ford Puma                          +1m 49.1s
4. S Ogier / V Landais                                      Toyota GR Yaris                 +2m 20.2s
5. T Katsuta / A Johnston                              Toyota GR Yaris                 +2m 47.9s
6. T Suninen / M Markkula                           Hyundai i20 N                    +2m 58.8s

Kalle Rovanperä brushed aside Friday’s punishing conditions at Central European Rally as he stormed – literally and figuratively –  to a commanding 36.4-second lead over Thierry Neuville.

Heavy rain and perilous mud greeted the FIA World Rally Championship crews as they tackled the rally’s first full day, which featured six asphalt stages in the Czech Republic.

Opening the road, points leader Rovanperä took full advantage of the less muddied road and reached the mid-day tyre fitting zone 29.2sec clear of the chasing pack after winning all three of the morning’s super-stages.

The Toyota GR Yaris champion-elect demonstrated it was no fluke, dominating the afternoon loop of repeated stages widening his gap yet further.

As it stands, Rovanperä is in the pound seats to claim his second-consecutive WRC title unless team-mate Elfyn Evans – who languishes 47.2sec behind him in third overall – can stage a spectacular comeback.

“It has been super tricky today,” Rovanperä said. “Luckily, the weather was on our side for once with the starting position – it was good to be the first car on the road. We can be happy with our day.”

Neuville initially led after Thursday’s opening pair of super special stages but fell to third on Friday morning in stage four after struggling with his car’s set-up and a misted-up windscreen. The Belgian felt his i20 N Rally1 would have benefitted from softer suspension springs but, with no service halt between loops, changes were not possible.

Nevertheless, he maintained the pressure on Evans and, after overtaking the Welshman to claim the runner-up spot in the final stage, ended 10.8sec in front.

Also feeling at odds with his car’s handling was M-Sport Ford Puma man Ott Tänak who ended a lonely fourth overall – 43.2sec adrift of Evans, describing his Puma as undriveable, but with 56.4sec in hand over fifth-placed Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta.

Sébastien Ogier’s hopes of winning his ‘home’ rally disintegrated early in the day when the Frenchman limped through the opening stage with tyre damage caused by a broken wheel. He fought back to claim sixth, just 3.2sec ahead of Teemu Suninen.

Aside from Neuville, Suninen was the only other Hyundai driver remaining after his compatriot Esapekka Lappi crashed heavily from third overall on SS5. The Finn, starting his first asphalt rally in the i20, placed seventh overall ahead of Puma youngster Grégoire Munster.

Also having his patience tested was Pierre-Louis Loubet, who dropped more than five minutes on SS8 when he went off the road and picked up wheel damage.

Saturday begins with two stages in Austria before a quick hop across the border to the Knaus Tabbert Bayerischer Wald blast in Germany. After service in Passau, the loop is repeated once more.

In WRC2, Yohan Rossel, one of three title contenders, crashed out in Friday morning’s first stage, while points leader Andreas Mikkelsen lost ten minutes after going off the road in stage four

Leading positions after Friday:

1. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris 1h 13m 5.1s

2. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +36.4s

3. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +47.2s

4. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Ford Puma +1m 30.4s

5. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +2m 26.8s

6. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2m 35.9s

Ott Tanak still leads by 51.6 seconds while second-placed Teemu Suninen is under huge pressure from Thierry Neuville in a fight for second place with two stages remaining.

Tanak is cruising to the finish, saving his car and tyres for the Wolf Power Stage later this afternoon where extra championship points are on offer. While overall positions in the top six remain unchanged, Suninen has seen his lead cut from 13.9 seconds overnight to just 6.7 seconds by his teammate Thierry Neuville in a frenetic fight for second.

Elfyn Evans is still the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris, adding a few seconds to his lead over birthday boy Kalle Rovanpera, who turns 23 today.

Happy birthday Kalle, from all at Motorsport Week and Motorsport Monday!

Estonian Ott Tanak stormed into the lead after blitzing two of the three stages in Friday’s second loop.

The leaderboard had a shake-up after the midday service. Erstwhile rally leader Elfyn Evans found the going tricky, complaining about the slippery stages.

Teemu Suninen won stage four to take the rally lead by 3.8 seconds but it was short-lived as Tanak was on a charge.

The M-Sport Ford Puma star won both stages five and six to hold a 4.2 second overnight lead from the leading Hyundai of Suninen. Evans held on to third place but Kalle Rovapera – running first on the road lost fourth to Thierry Neuville in the day’s final stage after losing time with a half-spin. Neuville had been unhappy with his car’s handling the whole day but made some set-up changes for the afternoon stint.

Takamoto Katsuta is sixth overall, admitting his driving wasn’t up to his usual standard and had a big moment in SS5 when he landed badly after a big jump, running up a steep embankment. “We had a massive moment in this one, so I don’t know how we got away with that one!” the Japanese driver reported. “The rear wing is on so that’s good news for me”.

Sami Pajari heads the Rally2 fight by 13.3 seconds from Oliver Solberg

Kalle Rovanpera took a dominant victory in Portugal in what was his first win of the season. Rovenpera topped the Wolf Power Stage on his way to securing victory over Dani Sordo. Esapekka Lappi took third after team-mate Thierry Neuville hit trouble on the first stage of the day.

The finale of Rally de Portugal consists of 4 stages, Paredes and Fafe are up first before Cabeceiras de Basto rounds out the morning. A second pass through Fafe serves as the Wolf Power Stage.

The big news overnight was in WRC2 as Oliver Solberg incurred a 1-min penalty for exhibition driving in Saturday’s super special where the leader performed doughnuts after the finish line. This meant that Solberg lost his lead to Gus Greensmith and only had four stages in which he had to claw back a 30s gap.

For the overall rally leader, Kalle Rovanpera, it was business as usual as the Finn kept a large enough gap to Dani Sordo throughout the morning. Rovanpera was fastest on SS17 to bring out the gap to 59.4s but it would drop to 47.8s before the Wolf powerstage, however, it was a lead that was being managed by last year’s champion. Rovanpera then went on to produce a strong finish as he topped the stage times on the return leg through Fafe. This means that the Toyota driver finished with maximum points from the event with the win on the stage and the overall rally.

“It has been too long coming, but finally we are back,” said a jubilant Rovanpera. “I have to say a big thank you to the Jonne and the team. They have been pushing all the time and going forward. I also have to give a good thank you to my very good friend Artu. I have been having a hard time since the end of last year personally, and he has been pushing me to come back.”

Sordo missed out on the top three stage times on the last run, but the Spaniard still claimed second overall in the standings and was reflective when he finished.

“It’s very nice. I think we drove very well. I want to say thanks to Craig Breen because he was with me for the whole rally and pushing me to my limits.”

In the battle for third, it was drama for Neuville as his Hyundai suffered from a mechanical issue that dropped the Belgian to fifth. Neuville arrived last night with smoke coming from his car and although he believed it could be fixed, Neuville went through the first stage of the morning with reduced power.

Neuville’s issues meant that Lappi assumed third with Ott Tanak moving up to fourth. No movement happened in SS18 as the drivers were saving their tyres for the upcoming powerstage. Lappi claimed third on the final stage for some bonus points to cap off his run to third in the event. It wasn’t without peril though as when the Finn finished, smoke could be seen coming from his I20 N Rally1.

Tanak took second place on the Wolf Power Stage on his way to securing fourth ahead of Neuville who limped his car home.

In WRC2 there was a grandstand finish with Gus Greensmith just coming out on top despite a resurgent Solberg bringing the gap down to 1.2s at the finish. Greensmith developed a mechanical issue on the second stage of the day. Solberg was recovering from his penalty but just couldn’t get the job done.

Final Standings

1. Rovanpera 3hr 35min 11.7s
2. Sordo +54.7s
3. Lappi +1min 20.3s
4. Tanak +2min 4.1s
5. Neuville +8min 22.5s
6. Greensmith +9min 43.4s (WRC2)

Kalle Rovanpera asserted himself at the top of the Rally de Portugal standings after carving out a 57.5s lead in which the majority of the gap was made in the first three stages of the day. Dani Sordo sits in second place with team-mate, Thierry Neuville, third.

Day two sees the crews tackle another 150km of tough Portuguese terrain in the Cabreira Mountains. Two runs through Vieira do Minho, Amarante and Felgueiras are separated by service with the final stage of the day taking place at the fan-favourite Lousada rallycross circuit.

Rovanpera started the first leg in impervious form as he won the first three tests of the day. The Finn started the day just 10.8s ahead of Dani Sordo, however that ballooned to 52.4s by the time the cars reached service. The first stage set the tone as Rovanpera was 12.8s quicker than the next car and then was a huge 21.7s faster than second-place man Sordo through the following stage.

“I just woke up today and thought that we should drive a bit of a rally,” said the Finn at the end of the morning leg. “We have done a few good mornings, but this was a really good one. The whole loop was good, and we will try to continue like this.”

Although the times would fluctuate over the afternoon stages, Rovanpera’s lead never dropped below 50s with the Toyota man leading by 59.4s heading into the Lousada super special stage. The test saw Rovanpera close the day with a 57.5s lead over Dani Sordo and with only four stages remaining, last year’s champion has victory in his grasp.

In the battle for third, there was drama for M-Sport driver, Pierre-Louis Loubet. The Frenchman suffered from damage after a heavy impact towards the end of the Amarante stage which meant that he had to retire the car.

This left the two Hyundai’s of Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville to fight it out for third. Lappi headed the Belgian at the end of the morning runs but Neuville was only 0.9s behind the Finn as they got going in the afternoon. Lappi would keep hold of third until SS13, where he dropped 8.5s to his teammate, meaning that Neuville was now in the hot seat. It stayed that way after the super special stage however the two are only separated by 2.3s with one day left.

Tanak sits fifth after Loubet’s retirement and trails fourth place by over 1min 10s. The Estonian was the last Rally1 car in the top six as Elfyn Evans and his crew were unable to restart the rally due to the damage that was sustained in his crash on Friday.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg still heads the leaderboard with Gus Greensmith and Andreas Mikkelsen following behind.

Standings after Saturday

1. Rovanpera 2hr 59min 48.5s
2. Sordo +57.5s
3. Neuville +1min 8.6s
4. Lappi +1min 10.9s
5. Tanak +2min 21.8s
6. Solberg +8min 8.3s (WRC2)

Kalle Rovanpera leads Rally de Portugal heading into day two after a drama-filled day. Rovanpera took care of his car and tyres to come out on top with Dani Sordo in second just 10.8s behind. A three-way fight for the final podium spot is currently held by Thierry Neuville.

The first day of the rally includes two passes of, Lousa, Gois and Arganil which is separated by a tyre fitting zone situated in Arganil itself. The day ends with a run through Mortagua before a super special stage at Figueira da Foz.

Tyre drama was the phrase of the day as multiple cars in all classes suffered punctures and damage whilst navigating the tough Portuguese terrain. Ott Tanak would be the first big scalp that was claimed when a front right puncture cost the Estonian the lead. Tanak had taken the lead away from team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet in stage two after a stunning run through Gois but on resumption of the rally in the afternoon, Tanak lost 50.1s on SS4.

Loubet also hit issues at the end of SS3 as his Puma Rally1 car caught fire once the Frenchman had finished his run. They were able to keep going but the time loss temporarily dropped him down the order.

The Toyotas were having their own issues with the tyres, Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera both suffered from excessive tyre wear on the fronts. Rovanpera was able to make a set-up change before Arganil which launched the Finn into second place. For much of the afternoon, Rovanpera was locked in a tight battle with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.

The Spaniard was driving the third car in this event and his choice of tyres had put him into the lead after Tanak’s puncture, but after a hard-fought battle, Sordo overshot a corner on SS7 which gifted Rovanpera a 14.2s lead with just the super special stage to go. Sordo completed the super special faster than the leader, but it would only lead to a 4s cut in the Hyundai’s deficit.

“It’s been a really good day,” said Rovanpera. “Lots of cleaning, but still we did a steady day. We were fast but we also took care of the car and the tyres.”

Evan’s tyre troubles continued with an issue in SS6 but unfortunately, the Welshman’s day would come to an end on SS7 where the Toyota crashed just 13.8km into the stage. Evans had been running sixth at the time behind the battle for the final podium spot.

Loubet had recovered from his fire in the morning to stay in touch with the Hyundai duo of Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville. The trio had been trading times throughout the day with them being separated by less than a second with one stage left to run. On that final run, the only position to remain the same was Loubet. Lappi was cautious on his go which led to Neuville jumping back into third to close the day with Lappi now in fifth.

At the close of the day, Tanak finished with a gap of 1min 4.7s to Rovanpera with the Ford having to be nursed due to running low on spares. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta never really got going in the rally with his car suffering from an alternator failure before the third stage of the day.

Oliver Solberg currently leads in WRC2 after tyre issues hampered early leader Adrien Fourmaux.

Standings after Friday:

1. Rovanpera 1hr 22min 27.7s
2. Sordo +10.8s
3. Neuville +26s
4. Loubet +26.9s
5. Lappi +27.3s
6. Tanak +1min 4.7s

Takamoto Katsuta has been moved to the main Toyota Gazoo Racing team as part of an otherwise unchanged line-up for the 2023 World Rally Championship season.

Katsuta has been part of Toyota’s WRC Challenge program with the Japanese competing under the Toyota Gazoo Racing Next Generation banner in a factory Yaris. After a strong and consistent year which involved three podiums and a top-five championship finish, Katsuta will now be alternating drives with Sebastien Ogier as he undertakes another part-time campaign in 2023.

Ogier hasn’t confirmed the rounds at which he will appear, however at the rounds he does, Katsuta will be driving an identical Yaris outside of the team so won’t be eligible to score manufacturers’ points. Katsuta’s promotion also means that Esapekka Lappi will no longer be part of the Toyota squad despite scoring three podiums in seven events.

Elfyn Evans and 2022 Drivers’ Champion, Kalle Rovanpera return for 2023 with the team.  

Team Principal, Jari-Matti Latvala commented: “It’s very nice to welcome Takamoto into our main line-up to share a car with Sébastien while also still gaining the experience of a full season,” continuing: “We believe the time is right for him to make this step: In 2022 he was the WRC’s most consistent scorer so we are confident he can bring good points for the team.”

Talking about the targets for next season, he said: “As a team we have enjoyed an extremely good season in 2022. To win all three titles for the third year in a row will be a big challenge but that is certainly our target next season, and we need to keep working together to achieve it.”