Kalle Rovanperä kept his cool to win Central European Rally on Sunday, guiding Toyota Gazoo Racing to a fifth consecutive FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers' crown and igniting one of the closest drivers' title battles in modern WRC history.
The Finn assumed control on Saturday when team-mate Sébastien Ogier crashed out in treacherous conditions. From there, he managed the gap with trademark composure to take victory by 43.7sec.
It marked Rovanperä's third win of the year following triumphs in the Canary Islands and Finland, and Toyota's ninth manufacturers' title - surpassing Citroën's tally of eight and leaving the Japanese marque just one behind record-holder Lancia.
"It's been great to be back on Tarmac again, and I think the pace Séb and I had was pretty fast compared to the others," Rovanperä said. "Huge congratulations to everyone in the workshop - clearly, we are super good as a team. I'm hungry for the title now; we increased our chances, it still will not be easy, but we'll try to continue."
Behind him, Elfyn Evans snatched second place from Ott Tänak on the Wolf Power Stage after a day-long chase. The Welshman benefitted when Tänak had a moment on SS17 (Beyond Borders 2) at the same bridge which had earlier claimed Thierry Neuville, trimming the gap to 1.1sec heading into the finale. Evans then edged ahead by 5.6sec in the closing kilometres to seal a Toyota one-two.
Ogier's incident, which occurred when he understeered into a tree on Saturday's Keplý stage, proved a turning point both for the rally and the drivers' championship. The Frenchman had arrived in Passau two points ahead of Evans, but his crash now leaves the Welshman back on top of the standings with a 13-point buffer.
A maximum haul of Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage points means Ogier now sits level with Rovanperä approaching the final two rounds - part of one of the closest title fights in the WRC's modern era.
Takamoto Katsuta capped off a promising weekend by finishing 17.5sec behind Tänak in fourth, while Adrien Fourmaux completed the top five in his i20 N Rally1 despite continued struggles with understeer. Rookie Sami Pajari impressed again in sixth - his fifth consecutive points finish.
Behind them, Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster ensured both M-Sport Ford Pumas reached the finish, McErlean equalling his best career result in seventh overall. Newly crowned WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg ended eighth in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, with Czech stars Jan Černý and Filip Mareš rounding out the top 10.
Further down the order, Mille Johansson pulled off a sensational last-stage turnaround to become the 2025 FIA Junior WRC champion - defeating Taylor Gill by just 1.6sec after a breathtaking conclusion to the four-day fixture.
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, CENTRAL EUROPEAN RALLY
1 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h36m20.1s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +43.7s
3 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +49.3s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m06.8s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m04.6s
6 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +2m13.9s
7 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +5m48.8s
8 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +8m56.2s
9 Jan Černý/Ondřej Krajča (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10m51.1s
10 Filip Mareš/Radovan Bucha (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11m21.2s
29 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +49m40.9s
(Results as of 17:00 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
2025 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 12:
1 Elfyn Evans 247 points
2 Sébastien Ogier 234
3 Kalle Rovanperä 234
4 Ott Tänak 197
5 Thierry Neuville 166
6 Takamoto Katsuta 110
7 Adrien Fourmaux 96
8 Sami Pajari 79
9 Oliver Solberg 64
10 Grégoire Munster 26 ...
2025 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 12:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 632 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 464
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 176
4 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 127
What's next?
The penultimate round of the season takes place on home ground for TGR at Rally Japan on November 6-9. The event takes place on twisting asphalt roads in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures, around the service park in Toyota City near Nagoya.
*subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA
