The weekend of decisions

The Central European Rally promises to be a thrilling event, as the world's best rally drivers will have to decide which of them will win the 2024 WRC title over the next few days. The championship battle in WRC 1 has come down to four drivers: the two Hyundai pairings of Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja are at the top of the table. They are followed by the two Toyota pairings of Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Lanais and Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin. Things are also exciting behind them - after all, every WRC1 driver wants to win, and the title decision in WRC2 is also still open.

Sébastien Ogier (FRA) lives in Munich and therefore has the shortest journey of all the WRC title favourites.

The standings in WRC1 are as simple as they are complex: Hyundai spearhead Thierry Neuville can clinch the title for the first time on Sunday. Ahead of the Central European Rally, he is 29 points ahead of team-mate Tänak and 41 points ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Toyota). With a maximum of 30 points up for grabs on the WRC weekend, Neuville will be through if he scores enough points to have a 31-point lead over his closest rival before the WRC finale in Japan. It would be the first time in WRC history that the title has gone to Belgium.

Neuville is therefore the one who feels the least pressure at the front of the field - he has declared his intention to remain in the lead after this weekend. If that is enough to win the title, it will be perfect. And if not, then he will go to Japan as the favourite. His rivals, on the other hand, will have to take more risks if they want to close the points gap. Neuville / Wydaeghe will become WRC champions early if they score two points more than Tänak / Järveoja and do not lose more than ten points of their lead over Ogier / Landais. In addition, they must not lose more than 16 points to Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, which sounds like an achievable task for world-class drivers.

Ott Tänak in second place is hot on the heels of leader Thierry Neuville

WRC drivers' standings ahead of the Central European Rally

Pos.	Driver	Nat.	Manufacturer	Punkte
1	Thierry NEUVILLE	BEL	Hyundai	207
2	Ott TÄNAK	EST	Hyundai	178
3	Sébastien OGIER	FRA	Toyota	166
4	Elfyn EVANS	GBR	Toyota	161
5	Adrien FOURMAUX	FRA	Ford	140
6	Kalle ROVANPERÄ	FIN	Toyota	114
7	Takamoto KATSUTA	JPN	Toyota	80
8	Daniel SORDO	ESP	Hyundai	44
9	Sami PAJARI	FIN	Toyota	41
10	Esapekka LAPPI	FIN	Hyundai	33
11	Andreas MIKKELSEN	NOR	Hyundai	29
12	Grégoire MUNSTER	LUX	Ford	27

WRC manufacturers' standings before the Central European Rally

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	482
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	465
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	245

WRC 2: Tricky maths

The championship has also reached the decisive phase in WRC2. Oliver Solberg / Elliot Edmondson (SWE/GBR, Skoda Fabia RS) lead the standings with a twelve-point advantage, but cannot score any more points due to the regulations. They have already completed the permitted maximum of seven runs eligible for points, of which the best six results were counted. The WRC2 championship leaders are therefore only scoring points for their team Toksport WRT2 and are condemned to watch as far as the championship decision is concerned. This is because it now comes down to their rivals Yohan Rossel / Florian Barral (FRA, Citroën C3): For them, victory at the CER is a must if they still want to have a chance of fighting for the WRC2 championship at the season finale in Japan. Their team-mates at DG Sport Competition, Nikolay Gryazin/Kontantin Aleksandrov, are fighting for the title in the FIA WRC2 Challenger category at the same time. Championship leader Sami Pajari is gaining WRC1 experience in a Toyota Yaris at the Central European Rally, so now it's down to Gryazin/Aleksandrov: If they want to catch Pajari, they need a result in the top two places. If they finish third (or worse) and fourth-placed Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Škoda Fabia RS) does not win, then the WRC2 Challenger title will go to him.

WRC2 standings before the Central European Rally

Pos.	Pilot	Nat.	Manufacturer	Points
1	Oliver SOLBERG	SWE	Skoda	123
2	Yohan ROSSEL	FRA	Citroën	111
3	Sami PAJARI	FIN	Toyota	108
4	Nikolay GRYAZIN	BUL	Citroën	66
5	Lauri JOONA	FIN	Skoda	58
6	Jan SOLANS	ESP	Toyota	54
7	Kajetan KAJETANOWICZ	POL	Skoda	47
8	Robert VIRVES	EST	Skoda	45
9	Gus GREENSMITH	GBR	Skoda	42
10	Fabrizio ZALDIVAR	PRY	Skoda	42