Tänak edges Ogier in Czech WRC shakedown

After seven gravel fixtures in a row, the FIA World Rally Championship returns to asphalt for the final two rounds of the season – and Tänak wasted no time in proving both he and his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID are just as competitive on sealed surfaces.

The Estonian posted the fastest time on the short and punchy Točná test, edging Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID rival Sébastien Ogier by just two-tenths of a second. Ogier’s team-mate, Takamoto Katsuta, completed the podium a mere tenth further back.

Tänak currently sits second in the drivers’ standings, 29 points behind colleague Thierry Neuville, who must outscore him by at least two points this weekend to secure the championship with one round to spare. But the pair must also keep their sights on the manufacturers’ title, where Hyundai holds a slim 17-point lead over Toyota.

“Obviously we are still in a very close fight with Toyota, so at the moment there is no strategy really that you can put into place,” Tänak explained. “Our first priority is to keep Toyota at bay, and then we will see about the rest.”

Neuville set the pace on the opening run but eventually dropped back to fourth, just 0.1sec ahead of Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari as less than a second separated the top five runners.

“We are excited,” smiled the Belgian. “It’s going to be a challenging week, of course, and I think especially Friday will be the most difficult. Overall, we are ready. We have to be prepared to adapt our strategy throughout the weekend and we will see what it’s like at the end.”

Elfyn Evans placed sixth in his Toyota, followed closely by Andreas Mikkelsen, who is making his first WRC appearance for Hyundai since Rally Poland in June. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top eight in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID, with Rally2 runners Yohan Rossel and Oliver Solberg completing the top 10.