After the morning shakedown stage, two proper special stages took place Thursday afternoon and evening in a race which crosses the German-Austrian border and also has stages in the Czech Republic.

Toyota dominated the first two stages and table leader and eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier has proven he is set on another title by leading the race, while title contender Elfyn Evans (Toyota) languishes in eighth place after a five-second penalty.

Tänak's Hyundai teammate Adrien Fourmaux (France) did well in placing third after day one.

As for Tänak, he finished the opening stage in eighth place but made up for it on the second run, by finishing third, moving ahead of Belgian teammate and reigning world champ Thierry Neuville. That and the penalty incurred on the Welshman Evans bumped Tänak up to sixth overnight.

The Estonian is driving for himself at this and the final two races next month, in Japan and Saudi Arabia, due to a rules workaround: Hyundai has forgone Tänak's points so that the Estonian can change engines. Doing so while still accruing points for Hyundai would have incurred a penalty, and a manufacturers' title for Toyota seems like a certainty.

As for the drivers, Tänak is still in with a chance mathematically speaking but would have to make it past three Toyota drivers between now and season's end: Ogier, Evans, and double world champion Kalle Rovanperä (Finland). The Frenchman at the top of the table is 43 points ahead of the Estonian as it is, making a podium finish essential at this race. On the other hand, Tänak has finished on the podium in both of the previous Central European rallies, winning last year's as noted and finishing third in the inaugural 2023 event.

Entering the twilight zone ✨#CER2025 #WRC pic.twitter.com/fyAdKDJ0dp

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial) October 16, 2025

Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja were originally set to compete in Central Europe with the Monte Carlo setup, but some technical issues during testing meant they had to bring out last year's rally car.

"On the first stage it didn't work as it should have, so we made some adjustments for the second," the Estonian said at the end of the day. "We hadn't driven this car for a while, so we had to remind ourselves how to get it working properly. We still have improvements to make, but the car worked better on the second stage. Gaining confidence is very important."

Rovanperä, Fourmaux and two more Toyota men, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, separated Tänak from Ogier after Thursday's stages.

Friday's stages begin at 9:30 a.m.

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