Kalle Rovanperä leads Central European Rally by 36.3sec after a dramatic Saturday in which Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier crashed out of contention, reshaping both the event and the FIA World Rally Championship title battle.
Rovanperä began the day just 0.6sec behind Ogier but seized the initiative immediately, moving into the lead on the opening Made in FRG test. One stage later, Ogier's hopes of victory and a crucial haul of points ended abruptly when he ran wide on a damp, leaf-covered section of asphalt on the rain-affected Keplý stage.
The Frenchman's GR Yaris Rally1 struck a tree in a 10G impact that destroyed the front-left corner of the car. Both he and co-driver Vincent Landais were unhurt and are expected to restart to the 10 points available from Sunday's four-stage finale.
The incident - eerily similar to the crash that ended Ogier's rally here 12 months ago - left Rovanperä clear at the top, while also altering the championship arithmetic. With Ogier out, team-mate Elfyn Evans is provisionally poised to seize the drivers' championship lead, though Rovanperä also remains firmly in contention.
"It's been a good day," said Rovanperä. "The afternoon was trickier feeling-wise, but everything is going well. Tomorrow's going to be a big day - the fight is going to be really tight."
Hyundai's Ott Tänak emerged as Rovanperä's nearest challenger, vaulting past Evans into second overall after topping the repeat of Keplý and continuing to close the gap through the afternoon despite reporting "a strange transmission noise." He ended the day 36.3sec behind the leader.
Evans, meanwhile, struggled to match the i20 N Rally1 driver's pace on the drier roads but kept his composure to complete the day third, 8.4sec adrift.
"We were missing a bit of speed this afternoon," Evans said. "We'll try again tomorrow."
Takamoto Katsuta shone in fourth, claiming two stage wins at Klatovy and ending the penultimate leg within 13.6sec of colleague Evans. His performance helped Toyota tighten its hold on the manufacturers' championship, which it looks increasingly likely to seal on Sunday.
Adrien Fourmaux maintained fifth in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 after a clean and consistent day, with Sami Pajari continuing to impress in sixth. After a trouble-ridden Friday, seventh-placed Thierry Neuville salvaged late encouragement by winning the final stage in darkness.
"It's still tricky in the bumpy sections, but I have a better feeling now on the smoother roads," said the Belgian.
M-Sport Ford's Josh McErlean survived a collision with a chicane to place eighth overnight as Rally2 runners Oliver Solberg and Jan Cerny rounded out the top 10. Cerny inherited the WRC2 category lead when long-time pacesetter Alejandro Cachón stopped with rear suspension damage on SS14.
End of day three (Saturday):
1 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 1h56m14.7s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +36.3s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +44.7s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +58.3s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m37.8s
6 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m59.0s
7 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m30.9s
8 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m39.3s
9 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +6m32.5s
10 Jan Černý/Ondřej Krajča (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +8m26.1s
38 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +49m49.9s
(Results as of 22:00 on Saturday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
What's next?
Sunday’s final day features two passes of the Beyond Borders stage – which spans Germany and Austria – as well as the all-Austrian Mühltal test, totalling 77.78 competitive kilometres. There will be a final tyre-fitting zone before the second pass of Mühltal serves as the rally-ending Power Stage.
