› Czech duo Jan Černý/Ondřej Krajča powers Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 to WRC2 victory at the Central European Rally, twelfth round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship.
› Italians Roberto Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) finish both WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger classification in third position.
› Fifth place in WRC2 Challenger classification keeps both Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) in contention for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ title.
Passau (DEU), 19 October 2025 – With a faultless performance, Jan Černý and co-driver Ondřej Krajča from the Czech Republic won both the WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger classification at the Central European Rally, round twelve of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Also driving Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Italian Roberto Daprà and Nikolay Gryazin from Bulgaria advance to second respective third position in the WRC2 Challenger overall standings.
As a tarmac event held in autumn, the Central European Rally is one of the most challenging rounds of the WRC in terms of road conditions. The only event to visit three countries – Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria – again mixed narrow, bumpy farm tracks with fast, smooth and wide country roads. The ever-changing weather, with sun, rain and fog coming and going quickly, made choosing the right tyres often a gamble. Consequently, a significant number of crews did not make it through the approximately 306 stage kilometres, at least not without mistakes or technical problems.
Until the lunch break on Saturday, Nikolay Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov were basically fastest Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew. However, the Bulgarian-Kyrgyz pairing lost approximately one and a half minutes due to a puncture already early on (SS5). With three WRC2 stage wins in a row on Saturday morning, they climbed back to fourth position in WRC2. To no avail: In the afternoon, a high-speed spin resulted in a hit to one of the many hay bales (SS12). The impact caused too much damage to their car for them to continue.
After the Toksport WRT mechanics had repaired their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov restarted on Sunday. They reached the finish fifth in the WRC2 Challenger classification, which saved them valuable championship points. Nikolay Gryazin climbed to third place in the WRC2 Challenger Drivers’ overall standings, Konstantin Aleksandrov now holds second position in the co-drivers’ classification.
During the first two legs, Spaniards Alejandro Cachón/Borja Rozada and the French duo of Léo Rossel/Guillaume Mercoiret dominated proceedings across the WRC2 field. However, in a dramatic twist of fate, both crews retired with the Saturday finish in sight. Jan Černý and co-driver Ondřej Krajča were elevated to the lead. “Sometimes, the road is very dirty, but the grip is not so bad. The next corner, there is zero grip,“ Jan Černý described one of the rally’s special challenges.
The 35-year-old driver from the Czech Republic took the opportunity and, unlike many competitors, kept his Brynda Racing Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on the road. Staying fully concentrated, he defended the lead until the finish, celebrating his first ever WRC2 victory together with co-driver Ondřej Krajča. This result also confirmed Jan Černý's recent decision to return to the Škoda family. “After Rally Finland, I was at rock bottom. And now I am the winner! A big thank you to my father, who has supported me all my life; to my co-driver Ondřej; to all my partners; and to Brynda Racing for a great car. I must say, the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 is the best. I hope I can do more rallies at the wheel of this great car.”
Roberto Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti were among the victims of the treacherous road conditions. The Italians lost more than two and a half minutes when they had to change a tyre on their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 mid-stage (SS5). "I cut too much in a narrow section and our car took a huge hit. Luckily, the suspension is OK,” reported Roberto Daprà. Their rally continued without further incident after that, earning them third position in both the WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger classifications. Roberto Daprà is now second in the WRC2 Challenger overall standings, only four points behind the leader.
For the next round, the FIA World Rally Championship stays with tarmac stages, but switches to another continent: Rally Japan (6-9 November 2025) is the penultimate event of the 2025 season.
Number of the Rally: 4
Brynda Racing’s Jan Černý/Ondřej Krajča from the Czech Republic were the fourth different Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew to win WRC2 at one of the twelve past rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship – for the fourth different team. Previous victories went to Roberto Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti from Italy (Delta Rally Team), Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Toksport WRT) from Estonia and British-Swedish pairing Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (RaceSeven).
Central European Rally (DEU/CZE/AUT), 16-19 October 2025, Result WRC2 Challenger
1 Jan Černý/Ondřej Krajča (CZE/CZE), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 2:47:11.2 hours
2 Filip Mareš/Radovan Bucha (CZE/CZE), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +30.1 seconds
3 Roberto Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti (ITA/ITA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +3:00.3 minutes
4 Eamonn Boland/Michael ”MJ” Morrissey (IRL/IRL), Ford Fiesta Rally2, +21:45.1 minutes
5 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (BUL/KGZ), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +29:59.3 minutes
6 Fabio Schwarz/Pascal Raabe (DEU/DEU), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +44:28.2 minutes
Standings WRC2 Challenger/Drivers (after 12 of 14 rallies)
1 Roope Korhonen (FIN), Toyota, 90 points (2 points-scoring events left)
2 Roberto Daprà (ITA), Škoda, 86 points (1 points-scoring event left)
3 Nikolay Gryazin (BUL), Škoda, 77 points (2 points-scoring events left)
4 Robert Virves (EST), Škoda, 75 points (1 points-scoring event left)
5 Jan Solans (ESP), Toyota, 72 points (2 points-scoring events left)
6 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL), Toyota, 72 points (1 points-scoring event left)
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