Overview
- Sébastien Ogier retired on SS10 (Keply) after sliding on wet leaves and hitting a tree, with both crew members uninjured but the Toyota too damaged to continue.
- Kalle Rovanperä had just taken the lead from Ogier on the previous stage and now heads the rally by 38.4 seconds over Elfyn Evans.
- Ogier began the event with a two-point championship advantage over Evans, making this his first DNF of the season and a major shift in the drivers' standings outlook.
- Ott Tänak runs third for Hyundai ahead of Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta, with Adrien Fourmaux fifth; Sami Pajari, Thierry Neuville and Josh McErlean complete the top eight.
- The tri-border asphalt event is the WRC's final German round before the calendar switch, following a Friday marked by a near dead heat between Ogier and Rovanperä and setbacks for Hyundai including Neuville's heavy time loss and Grégoire Munster's retirement.