News and Quotes Shakedown

The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship points leader Thierry Neuville was the first car out onto the 2.11km Točná shakedown stage in glorious autumn sunshine. The Belgian, who is hoping to wrap up the drivers’ championship title this weekend, ended up setting the fastest time out of all the competitors for his Hyundai team but only by a margin of 0.2 seconds from Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari. In WRC2 there are two of the fastest drivers – Škoda’s championship hopeful Oliver Solberg and team-mate Gus Greensmith – who are not registered for individual points and instead focusing on the teams’ championship. Meanwhile Citroën’s title contender Yohan Rossel has arrived on the Central European Rally in a crash helmet decorated with his son’s favourite cartoon characters to honour a promise he made after winning the previous round, Rally Chile.

#11 Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL), Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid

“Feeling good so far, I mean we had great preparation last week with a day of test and a little rally in Austria and everything felt good. I enjoyed a lot being back on Tarmac and hopefully this weekend we’re going to have an enjoyable rally. There will be a lot of spectators, a lot of support for sure and we’re going to try to benefit from that, enjoy it and yeah – we’re going to see where it is going.”

#8 Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST), Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid

“It’s obviously important weekend for the World championship so we definitely need to do our best. Weather-wise it definitely seems to be more consistent (than 2023), but yeah still I guess especially the Czech (stages) will be very demanding.”

#17 Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

“I am enjoying it, to be honest. I think that’s always the plan: to have fun in the car. The condition looks a bit more consistent than what we had last year, the weather looks nice so far so let’s hope we have a beautiful weather rally, I think with better grip and maybe more of a level field like condition for everybody. That’s always the ingredient to make a cool race.”

#33 Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

“Conditions should be a little bit different but nonetheless challenging. Looking forward to the weekend. Friday is a bit more bumpy, a bit more undulating, and then Saturday and Sunday have their own character. A lot of junctions, quite fast in between and quite a bit more clean I would say than last year.”

#16 Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) / Alexandre Coria (FRA), Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid

“It’s going to be a challenging rally. I remember last year the conditions was really crazy. It seems to be a bit different this year, the weather seems to be a bit more sunny but there still is going to be a big challenge for everybody. It’s going to be long, definitely – two rallies in one with the Friday event and then Saturday and Sunday – so, yeah, it’s going to be interesting to follow.”

#18 Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) / Aaron Johnson (IRL), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

“Of course it was new experience for me to skipping the one rally (Rally Chile), but yeah, try to struggle back to be here. Everything good. Test went well so yeah hope weather going to be like this and I try to enjoy and do my best to do good job for the team this weekend.”

#5 Sami Pajari (FIN) / Enni Mälkönen (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid

“It’s just sad that (shakedown) ended so fast. It’s so damn amazing to be on this kind of Tarmac with this car. It’s so, so fast – so much grip, so nice in like every way. Okay, I expect at least tomorrow to be a bit more tricky than this but at least I have a good feeling and I can’t wait really.”

#9 Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) / Torstein Eriksen (NOR) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid

“It’s been a long time (between events in a shared car), it’s not easy to come back and push on at World championship level with these guys driving so much but I will do my best this weekend for the team. We will try and push on a lot harder in Monte Carlo and Croatia. I have more time in the car now so I feel let’s say ready for it. It will be a tough weekend, tricky stages, but we are looking forward.”

#13 Grégoire Munster (LUX) / Louis Louka (BEL), Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid

“I mean we were expecting a lot of cuts, mud, some tricky conditions like we enjoy but I don’t think it’s going to the case this weekend. Still, back on Tarmac and with this car it’s just unbelievable. Not the most representative shakedown so we’re not going to be based on this, we are way too soft on this one.”

#19 Jourdain Serderidis (GRE) / Frédéric Miclotte (BEL) Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid

“It’s asphalt also, with this Puma (for me) it’s two years ago. It will be fast, for sure, but we are happy to be with the M-Sport guys.”

#20 Oliver Solberg (SWE) / Elliott Edmondson (GBR), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2

“Well I mean it’s important to get back into Tarmac, I haven’t done anything since Monte Carlo so it’s a bit weird but it’s nice to get back into it. I think it’s good practice for next year so, yeah, it’s nice to do some extra rallies and I’m grateful.”

#21 Yohan Rossel (FRA) / Florian Barral (FRA), Citroën C3 Rally2

“(Paw Patrol) is like my second family when I am in my home! I think (my son) is happy, he thinks the helmet is for him but it’s a bit early.”

#22 Nikolay Gryazin (BUL) / Konstantin Aleksandrov (BUL), Citroën C3 Rally2

“This stage difficult to judge, it’s completely different one from the race itself. It’s like probably Spain maybe, so you have to just drive through to see that the car (is) working well so it’s fine.”

#24 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL) / Maciej Szczepaniak (POL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2

“(The biggest challenge) is the break between the last rally on Tarmac and this one. For me it’s always good, I mean I like Tarmac but to be honest I have not too much experience in last three years on the Tarmac on this surface in this car. So it’s going to be big challenge and I want to focus on my job and try to find good feeling.”

#25 Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Jonas Andersson (SWE), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2

“Just focusing on Japan, try and get a good feeling for there (on this event). The shakedown’s not much like the rally so we’ll see.”

#30 Filip Mareš (CZE) / Ravovan Bucha (CZE), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

“For sure it’s exciting moment for me because to be part of the WRC family on our home event it’s something special and I hope you will enjoy the race.”