The Central European Rally started for the second time in history on Czech soil, and after the opening day the riders continued towards the Šumava Mountains. In the village of Švihov, Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen failed to make a turn and wrecked his car, but fortunately he is fine. Thierry Neuville is slowly and surely going for the title of world champion, but our Czechs are also doing very well.
Mikkelsen’s Hyundai blocked the road in the village of Švihov and the entire fifth erzeta had to be cancelled. The 35-year-old winner of three World Cup rally races knocked down a fence and damaged his car. Fortunately, the Norwegian is fine.
“I just went off the road. There were very tricky conditions, it’s a very difficult stage. It was slippery and I ended up in the fence which was hard and that’s why I have a wrecked car,Mikkelsen explained the crash to dirtfish.com.
It was a big clout for Mikkelsen / Eriksen on SS5 of Central European Rally this morning.
Crew OK. pic.twitter.com/aYQZPsqHuh
— Rallying UK (@RallyingUK) October 18, 2024
His return to the rest of the race weekend is in the stars. However, the Belgian Thierry Neuville came very close to winning the title of world champion, who can celebrate already on Sunday. He got ahead of Sébastien Ogier during Friday’s program and leads by six seconds heading into Saturday.
Filip Mareš made the Czech fans very happy in the WRC2 category. He even won his erzeta in the World Championship for the first time and is currently second. He loses 45 seconds to the leader Bulgarian Nikolai Grjazin.
“We didn’t even dare to think about going for the box from the beginning,Filip Mareš said for TV Nova.
In the WRC3 category, Filip Kohn even attacked for victory, in the end he is continuously second behind the Frenchman Chatillon. “We drive quite aggressively and try to stomp on it. We’re not here to finish tenth” added Kohn pro TV Nova.
The program continues on Saturday with trips to Austria and Germany.
The Central European Rally has started. Competitors started from Prague Castle:
TN.cz
