› Oliver Solberg of Škoda Motorsport customer team Toksport WRT holds on to the WRC2 overall lead after the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship’s penultimate round.
› 23-year-old from Sweden and British co-driver Elliott Edmondson finish the asphalt event in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany on second position in class RC2.
› Three Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crews finish inside the top 5 of the RC2 classification.
Passau (DEU), 20 October 2024 – Central European Rally, the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship, didn’t bring any changes to the situation at the top of the WRC2 leader board: Škoda driver Oliver Solberg remains in first place.
The initial situation before the start of the penultimate rally of the season was simple: WRC2 overall leader Oliver Solberg (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) had already reached his personal maximum of seven points scoring events. As a consequence, the 23-year-old Swede had to compete the Central European Rally outside the WRC2 classification. Nevertheless, he was listed in the RC2 class, which included the WRC2 category.
Runner-up Yohan Rossel, on the other hand, needed a WRC2 win to overtake Solberg in the overall standings. But the rally didn't go according to plan for Rossel. The Frenchman lost all chances of winning WRC2 after damaging a wheel and later a suspension problem. In the end, he finished in eleventh place, which definitely puts him out of the race for the WRC2 title.
Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg and British co-driver Elliott Edmondson fought with Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov for the RC2 victory. After Thursday’s and Friday’s stages in the Czech Republic, the two crews were separated by 3.1 seconds only. When Solberg/Edmondson lost a couple of seconds on Saturday morning due to minor offs, the fight for the class victory was settled. In the end, Gryazin/Aleksandrov won the class with 16.5 seconds ahead of the Swedish-British Škoda crew. “It was an important weekend for us after a long time without tarmac rallies. Thanks to my team, it was a great season,“ concluded Solberg after his last event of the season.
Throughout the rally, five Škoda crews were locked in battle for the positions just outside the top 3 of class RC2. In the end, Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk prevailed over their Polish compatriots Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak in the duel for fourth place. Motorsport Ireland backed Joshua McErlean/James Fulton finished in sixth position with British-Swedish pairing Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson coming home in seventh place. With Marijan Griebel/Tobias Braun in eighth and Armin Kremer/Ella Kremer in tenth, two German Škoda crews rounded up the good result for the Czech brand.
Armin Kremer, who has already secured the WRC Masters Cup title, also celebrated another victory in this sub-category. Sharing a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of team Baumschlager Rallye & Racing, the former European Rally Champion and co-driving daughter Ella Kremer have won all six events they competed during the season.
The WRC2 title will be decided during the season finale at Rally Japan (21-24 November). Leader Oliver Solberg will have to watch from the sideline as his only remaining rival, Sami Pajari, is competing for points. If the Finn finishes third or lower, Oliver Solberg will be crowned the 2024 WRC2 champion.
Number of the rally: 7
Seven Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crews finished inside the top 10 of the RC2 classification.
Central European Rally, 17-20 October 2024, Result RC2
1 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov, Citroën C3 Rally2, 2:46:52.2 hours
2 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (SWE/GBR), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +16.5 seconds
3 Filip Mareš/Radovan Bucha (CZE/CZE), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +2:23.9 minutes
4 Mikołaj Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL/POL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +2:53.0 minutes
5 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (POL/POL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +3:02.7 minutes
6 Joshua McErlean/James Fulton (IRL/IRL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +3:13.0 minutes
Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 12 of 13 rallies)
1 Oliver Solberg (SWE), Škoda, 123 points (from 7 rallies)
2 Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën, 111 points (from 7 rallies)
3 Sami Pajari (FIN), Toyota, 108 Points (from 6 rallies)
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