Hello rally fans :)!
The Central European Rally (CER) is is just around the corner! Starting on October 17th to 20th. It will take place across 3 counties (Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria). It’s the penultimate round of the 2024 WRC season, with a total of 44 crews competing!
The entry list features 10 Rally1 cars, with Toyota’s four GR Yaris Rally1s driven by Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, and Sami Pajari. Hyundai will have three Rally1 entries, and will be represented by Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, and Andreas Mikkelsen, and under M-Sport Ford - Adrien Fourmaux, Gregoire Munster, and Jourdan Serderidis.
The WRC2 category will see 17 entries, such as Oliver Solberg, Gus Greensmith, and Kajetan Kajetanowicz, while all eyes will be on WRC3 category which will put the focus on a special initiative aimed at increasing female representation in motorsports -
Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme.
This program had some amazing women, however only three female drivers came to the final round — Finland’s Suvi Jyrkiäinen, Belgium’s Lyssia Baudet, and Germany’s Claire Schönborn— they will be competing in the Central European Rally as part of the final stage of the program. The winner of this competition will earn a seat in the 2025 Junior WRC category, marking a major step forward in a much needed gender diversity within the sport :).
Ahead of the rally, both Sebastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta have been preparing intensely, with Katsuta testing his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 in the Czech Republic last Saturday, and Ogier conducting his own test on Thursday to fine-tune their setups for the event.
For a glimpse into Katsuta’s preparation, you can watch his test session here.
Photo credit to: cerwrc on instagram
YouTube & jagymeister :)!
