Neuville crashes into bridge, Central European Rally stage 15 cancelled

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EARLY STAGES ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN RALLY  SHOWS: VARIOUS, AUSTRIA AND GERMANY (OCTOBER 19, 2025) (WRC PROMOTER GMBH – See restrictions) 1. THIERRY NEUVILLE OF HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS RACING  2. NEUVILLE CLOSE-UP WHILE DRIVING  3. NEUVILLE CRASHES INTO A BRIDGE  4. FOOTAGE OF CAR CRASHED INTO A BRIDGE  5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THIERRY NEUVILLE SAYING:     "Actually, I had no time to check yet, really, but I think just to know, that was a bit too fast, very narrow. I turned, I understeered already in the entry, and the corner turned a bit more than I expected. It was too late, so there was no time to react. It was quite a big impact. It's painful, but we will have a check now." 6. AERIAL OF PEOPLE PUSHING NEUVILLE'S CAR AWAY FROM THE BRIDGE  7. VARIOUS OF SEBASTIEN OGIER OF TOYOTA GAZOO RACING  8. VARIOUS OF KALLE ROVANPERA OF TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT #69 9.  VARIOUS OF OTT TANAK OF HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS RACING  #8 10.VARIOUS OF ELFYN EVANS OF TOYOTA GAZOO RACING STORY: Reigning world rally champion Thierry Neuville retired from the Central European Rally on Sunday (October 19) after crashing into a bridge during stage 15, prompting officials to cancel the segment. Starting the day in seventh position, Neuville's Hyundai i20 N slid wide just four kilometres into the 12.37km Beyond Borders stage, striking a hay bale before colliding heavily with the side of a narrow bridge. The impact caused severe damage to the front of his car, which blocked the road. Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe exited the vehicle safely and were set to undergo medical checks.  The stage was red-flagged as marshals worked to remove the car and clean up fluid spilled onto the road. Rally control later decided to cancel the stage entirely, directing crews to proceed to stage 16. Only three cars had completed the stage before the cancellation. Toyota's Sebastien Ogier, who rejoined the rally after crashing out on stage 10, set the fastest time before the interruption, finishing 8.6 seconds ahead of M-Sport's Josh McErlean and 12.6 seconds ahead of Gregoire Munster in the sister M-Sport Ford Puma. Ogier noted the challenging conditions, citing dust on the road amid temperatures of 1°C. Rovanpera leads the rally by 36.3 seconds heading into the final three asphalt stages, with Hyundai's Ott Tanak in second place and Elfyn Evans trailing in third, 8.4 seconds further back. (Production: Annette Faydenko/ Suramya Kaushik)

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