News and quotes finish Passau

The Central European Rally ends where it began: in the service park in Passau. The award ceremony in the Dreiländerhalle was the crowning finale of the weekend – and the conclusion of the pan-European rally highlight's three-year presence in the FIA World Rally Championship. Many of the returning teams had a lot to report after four intense days of rallying. We have collected some of their statements.

#17 Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA), Toyota GR Yaris Rally

"The weekend didn't go as we had hoped. But from my side, I gave it my all this weekend. Unfortunately, yesterday's tyre problem completely destroyed our chances of a good result. But as always, we never give up. We kept fighting today and tried to score as many points as possible. It was just fun to drive. We had a good feeling in the car, were well prepared and really enjoyed the weekend from a driving perspective. Today was particularly enjoyable because we were able to push a little harder. Until yesterday, we were driving rather cautiously, just wanting to drive cleanly and not take any risks. Today, the focus was more on attacking – and that's always more fun when you can really push."

#33 Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

‘To be honest, things hadn't been going particularly well until today. But fortunately, today was much better – thank goodness, because before that we were just missing something. So, of course, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out in the end. The main thing is that we made it to the finish. It was a really tough weekend, but today I finally had a much better feeling in the car again and was able to drive at a much better pace.’

#69 Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

As always, it was a tough weekend. This rally is quite a challenge. Long days, lots of kilometres and difficult stages. Every stage has special passages. At the beginning, it was a tough battle with Seb. In the end, I had a big lead. I scored a lot of points, so our title hopes are still alive. Better than before the weekend.

#20 Oliver Solberg (SWE) / Elliott Edmondson (GBR), Toyota GR Yaris

"It was a fantastic rally. Super clean, consistent and fast when needed. Even though it wasn't a points rally for us, a rally is still a rally. You still want to do your best. The rally was really cool, challenging. What I particularly love is that every stage is different. You have to adapt, adjust the car, and you learn an incredible amount in the process. An asphalt victory is always something special, and it's the first time I've won for Toyota in WRC2 – so a really good result for us and the team. Apart from that, the biggest learning curve for me was adapting from stage to stage. It was really interesting and instructive.‘

#24 Jan Černý (CZE) / Ondřej Krajča (CZE), Skoda Fabia RS

’Simply a fantastic rally! A big thank you to the organisers for this great event. I hope it will soon be part of the rally championship again – it's really beautiful here. The weekend was really tough, but we tried to improve – and we succeeded. I'm really happy about that, it was just a great rally. We were really fast on some stages, and to win for the first time with this car – I'm so happy! Before the event, I thought that if we made it onto the podium, that would be perfect – but we won, and that's just incredible. And then when you arrive at the finish line, see so many people and stand there as the winner – it's just something special."

#27 Filip Mareš (CZE) / Radovan Bucha (CZE), Toyota GR Yaris

"Really, really nice – we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the car and on all the stages. I would really like to thank the organisers, the rally was just fantastic. Each stage in each country had a different character, which was a really nice experience for us. Most importantly for me, we showed that our pace is comparable to the best drivers in our class – that's really good. To be honest, I didn't expect us to be so fast because we've been competing in the Czech championship all year – that's a completely different level. I'm really proud of our performance and our team. A big thank you also to all the team members. I'm still full of emotion from the last stage. We gave it our all there, pushing in every corner, and that experience is really sinking in for me right now. We really enjoyed the stage – for me, that was probably the highlight of the rally."

#32 Taylor Gill (AUS) / Daniel Brkic (AUS), Ford Fiesta Rally3

"It was really crazy. The stages were incredible – super challenging and very different. So yes, definitely not an easy rally. To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed because we obviously wanted to win the Junior World Championship title – that was our goal here. It hurts at the moment that it didn't work out. I liked the stages in Czechia best – they were really tricky, but we had really good pace there. It was just fun to drive there.‘

#46 Hermann Gassner Jr (GER) / Ursula Gassner (AUT), Renault Clio Rally3

’The weekend started quite well. We had a puncture on the first day in Czechia. We drove over something and then bent a few things, lost a lot of time and that took the wind out of our sails a bit. Nevertheless, we tried a few things with the car and still had two and a half days of driving ahead of us. That was a lot of kilometres and it was a lot of fun. I saw a huge number of spectators. It was also nice to see so many German and Austrian spectators. We don't usually get that often. And yes, in terms of results, it wasn't the best rally for us, but we're glad that we're here now and have completed all the stages. It's the mix that makes this rally so special. Czechia is, of course, or was, a little more tricky with the weather. On the other hand, you had to push a little harder on the German and Austrian stages. So it's the combination that makes it special. Just one or the other wouldn't be so exciting.‘

#48 Petr Kačírek (CZE) / Petr Černohorský (CZE), Ford Fiesta Rally3

’This was our first rally in the World Championship, and I'm just really happy to be here at the finish. It was incredibly demanding – especially the stages in Czechia. They require a lot of experience, which we don't have yet, but we are getting to know the car better and better and gaining new experience with every stage. My highlight yesterday was definitely the Klatovy stage – we were less than a second per kilometre behind the fastest time, which was a mega job on our part! And the Power Stage was also really fun – it was a great way to end the weekend."