Due to an agreement with Hyundai, his team, the Estonian, and his compatriot and co-driver Martin Järveoja, are racing for themselves both here and at the following two races left in 2025.

The Central European Rally — taking place in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic — joined the WRC calendar two years ago and so far Hyundai has made a clean sweep of it.

The team is hoping to repeat that this weekend even as Toyota and its drivers have been dominant this year.

Rally headquarters are in Passau, near the Germany-Austria border. Thursday's stages take place in Germany while Friday's route runs across all three countries. The final day of the race, Sunday, sees a cross-border stage, while the Mühltal stage, the 16th of the rally and also its power stage, stretches for an impressive 26.52 kilometers.

Hyundai's Belgian driver Thierry Neuville, reigning world champion, triumphed in the inaugural race while Ott Tänak took one of his two race wins in the 2024 season there. Both drivers finished in third place in the years they did not win, also.

Despite this pedigree, Hyundai will have it all to do, with veteran driver and eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier (France) topping the table for Toyota on 224 points, just two points ahead of teammate Elfyn Evans. The Welshman is looking for his maiden win, so it is not clear if Ogier will retain the top spot one way or another, though even then Toyota has current third-placed driver too, double world champion Kalle Rovanperä of Finland, on 203 points. Only then comes Tänak, the first Hyundai man, on 181 points, a long way behind the table toppers, and 15 points ahead of Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta takes the next place, for Toyota, on 94 points, while Hyundai's third driver, Adrien Fourmaux, is next in the standings on 86 points.

Toyota itself has 572 points, far ahead of Hyundai on 447, in the manufacturers' table. If Toyota leaves Central Europe with a lead of more than 120 points, it will clinch its fifth consecutive manufacturers' world title, and though a mathematical chance still exists for the Korean team to overtake the Japanese at the last hurdle, so too does a theoretically slightly bigger chance exist for Tänak to take the drivers' title.

"We're still in the title fight, but a top result is essential," Tänak said going into the race weekend. "We know what to expect. This rally is one where weather conditions play a big role. Driving style is key, because grip changes constantly — especially if it rains," the Estonian went on.

As if to underscore the point, Hyundai has forgone all of Tänak's points, necessitated by the rules governing changes of engine, to allow the Estonian to race essentially just for himself yet get a new engine in the i20, an issue which plagued Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja at the last race in Chile, without incurring a time penalty.

The pair are setting up the car in its Monte Carlo rally configuration, too.
Aside from Tänak, there will be no other Estonian competitors in Central Europe, one of the few times this has happened this season, as several Estonians regularly race in the lower categories.

The race started with its shakedown run on the Thursday morning, a 4.57 kilometer stage, and continues with stage one proper at 3.30 p.m, followed by stage two, along the same route, just after 7 p.m., Estonian time.

Six stages follow on Friday, starting 9.30 a.m., with another six on the Saturday and the final four stages, including the power stage, on the Sunday.

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