The Central European Rally 2024 shakedown stage has come to an end. Ott Tänak and Miko Marczyk topped the stage in their respective classes.
Rally1
Ott Tänak topped the Central European Rally 2024 shakedown stage with a time 0.2 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Ogier and 0.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Thierry Neuville set the fourth fastest time, 0.4 seconds slower than Katsuta. Sami Pajari rounded out the top five on the shakedown stage, with a time 0.1 seconds slower than the reigning event winner Thierry Neuville.
WRC2
Miko Marczyk took home the fastest time in the WRC2 class. With a time 0.2 seconds faster than Yohan Rossel. Nikolay Gryazin finished third fastest on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Rossel and 0.9 seconds slower than Marczyk. William Creighton set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Gryazin. Maxime Potty rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.9 seconds slower than Creighton.
What To Expect From Central European Rally Day One
The first day of the Central European Rally 2024 kicks off with two stages totalling to 14.33 km. Thierry Neuville will be first on the road for the Rally1 drivers, followed by Ott Tänak and Sebastien Ogier. For the first time since Croatia being first on the road is an advantage for Neuville. As he will get the cleanest road and not have any debris on the road for the first pass of each stage. This is great for the Belgian as he can take home the championship this weekend. However, that inquires fending off Ott Tänak who will also get a decently clean road. As far as WRC2 goes, Filip Mares will be first on the road due to him being a local driver. Mares will start before all the Rally1 cars and be followed by Marijan Griebel.