Tanak wins after Ogier crash as title fight heads to Japan

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak has won the Central European Rally in dramatic circumstances to ensure the World Rally Championship title fight will be decided at the Japan season finale next month.

The 2019 world champions, Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja, were effectively handed the victory after rival Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier crashed out on the penultimate stage having lost his overnight rally lead following a mistake earlier on Sunday morning.

Tanak ultimately secured his second win of the season by seven seconds from Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.

Championship leader Thierry Neuville missed an opportunity to seal a maiden world title after failing to outscore Tanak by two points after finishing third, 39.8s adrift.

The unique asphalt rally that encompasses stages in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria began with Ogier assuming the lead after the opening stage near the Czech capital Prague. He then extended that advantage to 0.9s over championship leader Neuville heading into Friday’s six stages.

Making the most of starting first on the dry Czech roads that became progressively dirtier, Neuville hauled himself into the rally lead by stage five before going on to extend his lead over Ogier to 6.4s come the end of Friday. Tanak was a further 1.4s back, while Evans remained in the hunt, 15.1s in arrears.

The crews were greeted by damp stages as the rally moved to Germany and Austria on Saturday and fog descended. It created particularly greasy and challenging conditions that caught out several drivers including leader Neuville.

The Belgian’s lead had been reduced to 0.8s after Tanak produced a stunning time to win stage nine prompted a text message from Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul to warn the Estonian of the risks he was taking amid concerns over the manufacturers’ title fight with Toyota.

Tanak’s pace briefly moved him ahead of Ogier into second although the positions switched after the following test where Tanak was too cautious. It meant Neuville’s lead grew to two seconds over Ogier before drama struck on stage 11 (Schardinger Innviertel 1, 17.35km).

Neuville was caught out twice suffering a 360-degree spin when his rear wheels edged onto the grass. After recovering from that spin, an optimistic pacenote sent him off the road at left-hander and onto the grass run-off.

While…