David Casteau scores another stage victory at the Central Europe Rally

El Chaleco López. © J. van Oers. Despite a fright during the morning when his engine temporarily stalled after going through a large puddle, David Casteu picked up another stage victory, 1'16" ahead of his friend Francisco Lopez (KTM). As a result, the Frenchman now boasts a lead of 4'39" over the Chilean in the general standings. Spaniard rider Jose Manuel Pellicer finished third and defends his leadership in the up to 450cc class.

David Casteau.© J. van Oers. Two major talking points of the day were firstly, the 1 hour and 10 minute penalty for Slovakian Katrinak, who at the time was 2nd in the general standings, due to a missed waypoint yesterday, and secondly privateer Alain Duclos taking 3rd place from Cyril Despres (KTM).

However, there was no change in the quad race, where Hubert Deltrieu (Polaris) forced himself to control the stage, with success. Consequently, he left the stage victory to Hungarian Norbert Nemeth (Bombardier), who finished 55'' ahead of Christophe Declerck, who in turn grabbed 2nd place in the general standings. However, he still trails leader Deltrieu by a massive 43'26".