Chatillon Charges on Czech stages in WRC3

Commandeering a Renault Clio Rally3, the 23-year-old took the lead on Friday’s second stage after Thursday leader and local hero Jan Černy lost almost two minutes when a brake caliper on his Ford Fiesta Rally3 came loose and leaked, forcing him to drive half the stage without brakes.

Waving the home flag following Černy’s misfortune was Filip Kohn, who claimed the stage win and moved within 0.6sec of new leader Chatillon. The FIA ERC3 champion however, who has entered Central European Rally as part of his M-Sport Ford prize drive, could not apply further pressure on Chatillon, an overshoot on the day’s final stage seeing him fall 35.1sec behind his French rival.

Another waving the flag for one of Central European Rally’s three host nations was WRC3 debutant Hermann Gaßner. The 35-year-old German had sat as high as third early in the afternoon but dropped significant time on the final two stages to fall back to fifth overnight.

The main benefactor was Poland’s Hubert Laskowski, who jumped from fifth to third, moving beyond both Gaßner and Tristan Charpentier on the day’s final stage.

Back in sixth position is Černy, 1min 22sec behind Chatillon but within touching distance of Gaßner.