The final day then saw the crews face only two stages, but they were a double run of a long stage over 24 kilometres. Josh and Eoin returned to the action following their mid-afternoon retirement with a damaged engine manifold on their Puma, the Motorsport Ireland backed crew would open the road throughout the two stages.

 

Into SS17 Kääriku 1 and it was a great start to the super Sunday standings as Oliver set the pace from rally leader Sami, whilst Adrien had a fantastic stage and increased the gap to his teammate Thierry from 1.9 seconds to 9.8 seconds. Elfyn was also quick, matching the third placed time set by Adrien. Josh who was opening the road had a small off at a junction, but at least was able to finish the stage.

 

Then it was onto the final stage, SS18 Kääriku 2 the Powerstage and Oliver was fastest this time and Thierry was second with Elfyn third. The final two positions in the powerstage were taken by Seb and Takamoto. Sami and Marko crossed the line with the sixth best time and had taken their first top class victory and what a superb drive from the young Finnish crew. They climbed atop their Yaris and celebrated their victory.

Let’s hear from the drivers then and take a look at the final finishing positions, plus the full points standings.

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It’s simply an amazing feeling. ‘Arigato gozaimasu’ to Morizo-san and everyone at TGR-WRT for your support and for trusting in me. Thanks to all my supporters, family and friends who stood behind me even when we had tricky times. I also want to thank myself for not giving up and for continuing to push. We’ve had a good first part of the season and after being so many times on the podium, there was no doubt this result was coming, but it’s never easy at this level. This is one of my favourite rallies together with Finland, and I was just enjoying the driving and everything felt natural. Let’s now enjoy the moment before our home event at Rally Finland.”

Oliver Solberg

“This has been a very good weekend. It was very important for me to have a clean weekend and find a good rhythm and get back the feeling and the confidence. Thank you to the team who have supported through a tough time, and I’m very happy to bring back this great result and to be back on the podium. Sami and Marko have done an amazing job with incredible speed and really deserve this result. Today I was able to turn it up just a few percent and take the maximum points from Sunday, so I’m very happy.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a lot of fun to be back here in Estonia this weekend driving these amazing roads and this fantastic event; it was definitely the right decision. Congratulations to Sami and Marko on their first win: they were clearly the fastest this weekend, so enjoy it! On my side I was not far from the target I set myself. After five years away from these high commitment roads, I was just missing a little bit, and maybe a few tenths on this final day. Still, we scored decent points for the championship, and we will go to Rally Finland with a higher target.”

Elfyn Evans

“We faced a tough start to the weekend with the stages being so dry and the cleaning effect so clear. In the end, I think we clawed back as many positions as we could and that sixth was realistically the most that was possible. Then, the final day was quite OK for us. I think the rain helped a bit to even things out and we had a pretty good run through both stages. So, we came away with some decent points and now we’ll look forward to Rally Finland.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This weekend did not go the way that we had hoped. We knew that Friday could be difficult with our road position, but our pace was not bad, and I think we were doing our job quite well until we had to stop, and this really affected the rest of our rally, because it was hard to do much from first on the road. It’s very frustrating but nothing is over, and we keep going and keep pushing. We tested some different things with the car for Rally Finland and I hope we have a good rally there.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It feels very good to be back on the podium, it was a proper push today in my battle with Thierry, on the first run especially and then we had to ensure the result on the second run. Clearly the first run made the difference today because we had different setups, and it was optimised for the first pass and then a bit worse for the second, but we had a really big push on the first one. In the Power Stage, we knew that we had a decent gap; I should have done a little bit better, but overall, it has been a very positive rally, a good start for us on the fast rallies and I hope we can repeat this kind of performance in Finland.”

Thierry Neuville

“We started the rally with some issues, and we couldn’t really get the car working, so that meant we had to swap a lot of things for Saturday, which suddenly helped the performance to come back. We were continually improving throughout the day and closed on third by the end of Saturday, but I was just not quite in my rhythm this morning and we lost out to Adrien, who definitely deserved to take third place, hats off to him. It is still a good result for the team, considering where we came from, and second in the Power Stage was the maximum we could achieve from the weekend.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We had a challenging weekend in which we struggled with the pace. Generally, the car felt fine throughout the days, it was just difficult to understand why the speed and the times weren’t there versus the competition. On the other hand, we were able to gain more information and data on the setups and tyres, plus more mileage ahead of Finland, where we hope to be better.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Mārtiņš Sesks

“All in all, I think it was a weekend with positives. We did a good job on Friday with our limited experience, and looking ahead to Finland, Friday’s performance is a good positive – it has a lot of similarities with Finland. The rest of the rally was about managing; we did okay, but I wouldn’t say great. I’d say it’s good preparation for Finland, where the grip is higher and maybe we can be a bit more competitive there.”

Jon Armstrong

“It was a bit of a tricky start to the rally, we had the tyre debead on the first stage, over the jump, and then we struggled to make back the time we’d lost. But even without that we’d only have gained one position; the difference was the road position we lost going into Saturday, and we don’t know how much we could have gained with that.

“Overall, we’re happy with the pace. When you gauge it against Josh and Mārtiņš in the same car it’s looking quite good, so we’re happy with that, and we’re looking forward to Finland – it’s going to be a good experience in one of these cars.”

Josh McErlean

“It was a bit frustrating, obviously, what happened on Saturday, but our pace on Friday was nice. Sunday was a bit of a struggle starting first on the road, but we’ll keep learning, and we have plenty of positives to take into Finland. It’s a big reset for the team this week, and we’ll push on in Finland.”

Summary

What a drive then for Sami and Marko, with their sixth podium of the year and their first victory for them at the top level of this championship. Twelve stage wins gave them the lead they needed including the first nine stages. This was impressive as they didn’t take a stage win in this event last year. This result means that every Toyota driver has taken at least one win this year and has also brought the Finns into third in the championship.

 

For Oliver and Elliott this was well needed result to take second overall after a number of events which had seen them not get a result after little mistakes had big consequences. The second place points along with maximum points from super Sunday has given them a good boost in the standings.

 

Finally, Adrien and Alex scored third and has taken them onto equal points with their world champion teammates in the championship standings. It was a good result for the French duo after a few poor results, and this was a well-deserved result.

The next event is Rally Finland, also known as the 1000 Lakes rally and the Gravel Grand Prix to be held over the 30 July to 2 August.

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9

1	E. Evans	177
2	T. Katsuta	152
3	S. Pajari	144
4	S. Ogier	139
5	O. Solberg	130
6	T. Neuville	111
7	A. Fourmaux	111
8	E. Lappi	25
9	H. Paddon	21
10	Y. Rossel	20

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	464
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	308
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	157
4	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	116

Onto the second day then and the crews had nine stages in front of them with a total of 150 kilometres to tackle. Takamoto would open the road courtesy of being the last placed top-class crew with his co-driver Aaron at the end of the Friday’s stages. Meanwhile, Elfyn and Scott would the third placed crew on the road and would be looking to regain the positions they lost on the penultimate stage. Overnight rally leaders Sami and Marko would be the last crew through courtesy of leading the rally and would look to open up their lead from their closest challengers from Hyundai.

 

Onto the action then with SS8 Peipsiääre 1 and Sami picked up where he and Marko left off setting the pace from Oliver and Adrien. Elfyn gained two positions, passing Esapekka for seventh overall. It was not a good start for Josh whose Puma suffered from some sort of technical problem and after pulling off the stage the engine would not restart. They lost almost ten minutes before completing the stage at normal pace.

 

Next up came SS9 Mustvee 1 and Sami was again fastest from yes, Oliver and Adrien. As mentioned Elfyn who was third on the road was showing good pace and although not at the front running pace, he was fifth fastest and passed Martins for sixth overall. The Welshman was helped a little with a puncture for the Latvian, but even without this Elfyn would have passed the M-Sport crew.

 

The action continued with SS10 Peipsiääre 2 and Oliver was fastest bringing his teammates run at the top of the stage winners to an end, whilst Adrien was third behind the Toyota crews. Sadly, we lost Josh before the stage as the Puma was retired with a problem with the exhaust manifold.

 

The final stage of the morning loop SS11 Mustvee 2 and it was two in a row from Oliver from Sami and Thierry. Adrien had a slow puncture for the last five kilometres and was only able to set the seventh best time, but at least he’d completed the stage and was still holding third overall. Elfyn was consolidating sixth overall whilst pulling away from Martins.

 

After the lunch time service came SS12 Kambja 1 and Sami restored himself to the top of the stage times winning the stage from Oliver and Adrien. Thierry was eyeing up his teammates podium position, now only 7.9 seconds behind but saw the gap grow a little.

 

The action continued with SS13 Otepää 1 and Sami once again set the pace from Oliver and Thierry. Adrien was still fourth fastest keeping the time loss to a minimum to Thierry. There was a small overshoot for Elfyn in the stage, but not enough to let Martins back too close.

 

Into SS14 Kambja 2 and Sami was just in the zone as he continued to set the pace this time from Thierry and Adrien. Oliver was only fourth in this one but was looking after his tyres and keeping them from overheating. Thierry’s pace took the gap to Adrien down to a little over six seconds.

 

We saw Hyundai take a stage win courtesy of Thierry in SS15 Otepää 2 as he set the pace from Sami and Oliver. The Belgians pace took him even closer to Adrien, the gap now less than two seconds.

 

The short SS16 Tartu Vald would not have any effect on the overall leaderboard and Oliver was fastest from Thierry and Adrien.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top ten.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It’s been another really good day. Again, I had a really great feeling with the car and we could start with two stage wins this morning. Then Oliver was having really good pace to bring the gap back down a bit. So, we needed to try and step it up for the afternoon and we managed to do that, adding another 10 seconds to our lead. It wasn’t easy with some different stage conditions and difficult tyre choices, but I’m super happy and now we just need to bring it home tomorrow. We don’t know exactly what the weather will be like – the forecast suggests it could be tricky – but I’m looking forward to it.”

Oliver Solberg

“I had a much better feeling this morning; something similar to what we had here last year in terms of the feeling with the car and the speed. Initially I was still lacking a bit of commitment, but then we made another step for the second pass, the balance felt good, and I could push and set some fastest times. This afternoon we were maybe a bit optimistic going with a full set of soft tyres and it didn’t pay off. I didn’t want to force it and just tried to keep driving my own race. Sami has done an incredible performance so hats off to him. There’s still a long day tomorrow which will be very important for the points, and we’ll try to take as many as we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We were able to have a good rhythm and good fun in the car again today. Unfortunately, the road was evolving and getting faster with every car, so it was difficult to fight with the guys ahead of us on the leaderboard. I always prefer to have a fight and to be fifth overall is not what we hoped for, but we’re still on for some important points and tomorrow there are quite a few more to catch. The weather is looking uncertain, and some rain could change things and reduce this cleaning effect, so we just have to keep trying our best until the end.”

Elfyn Evans

“We had a good start to the day. With a slightly better road position than yesterday, we had a good feeling behind the wheel and were able to gain back some positions, which was the main target. We then used the afternoon to experiment with a few different setups, which maybe didn’t go in the direction that we had hoped, but at least we have a solid base to fall back on for tomorrow. Even though there’s only one stage run twice, there’s a lot of points on offer and we’ll have to try to be on our best.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was difficult today to be the first car on the road; it’s been so dry so far this weekend and the cleaning effect is really big. We were just focused on trying to find some positive things for the future and for the next rally in Finland, trying a lot of different things with the car setup in every single stage. Some things were positive, some things not so much, but at least we could gather that information. There’s still one more day to go and it probably won’t be easy, but I will keep trying my best, also for all the fans here in Estonia who have been showing such great support for me.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Overall, I have enjoyed today a lot, the cars are really fantastic in these kinds of rallies. It’s been a solid day, it’s just a shame that we lost some time to Thierry throughout the day; it was small amounts, but still a little bit each stage. I feel ready for tomorrow, let’s see what the weather will be like, it is still a long day and maybe there will be some rain. It’s really great to have this fight with Thierry because it is good experience with the same cars. The stage tomorrow is very fast followed by some very narrow sections and then some tarmac, so we are going to have to be good for both passes.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a very enjoyable afternoon after struggling a bit this morning. We made some changes on the car, which gave me a lot more confidence overall. We were struggling in first-pass conditions but in the second-pass conditions with the ruts, we had good speed, and I was enjoying it. Adrien was pushing hard obviously, so we had to push hard as well, without taking too many risks and also looking after the tyres. It wasn’t that easy and simple, we were running five soft tyres today but, in the end, I am happy with my choice.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We didn’t have any problems today, but we also didn’t really improve, which is a shame. The team has done a lot of work to try to improve the pace but for some reason, even with big changes, the car just didn’t react. But we won’t give up, we still have some changes planned for tomorrow so we will see how it goes. [On SS12] we slid wide on a really fast left-hander which was tightening and went completely off the road, but at least we know that this exit could be used!”

 

Classification after Day Two

1 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:08:34.0 2 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +25.0 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +52.1 4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +54.0 5 S. Ogier V. Landais Ford Puma Rally1 +1:32.8 6 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:02.9 7 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +2:16.3 8 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:42.0 9 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +3:03.2 10 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +7:07.2

Sunday

The final day sees the crews tackle only two stages, but they are the longest of the whole event at 24.39 kilometres. Let’s see who sets the pace over these two stages and takes the maximum Sunday points along with the powerstage points as well.

The first full day of action included the shakedown stage before the action started in the early afternoon. Elfyn and Scott would open the road throughout the day.

 

The first stage then, SS1 Raanitsa 1 and Sami set the pace just as he’d done during shakedown earlier from Adrien and Oliver. Elfyn, who was opening the road swept the road clear on his way to seventh fastest and ten seconds down on Sami, but at least he was ahead of Takamoto who held eighth position. Jon in the Puma was setting a really good pace, but unfortunately near the stage end over a jump he landed slightly off-line and damaged a tyre on the front right side, and then suffered bodywork damage to the wing. His teammate Martins was the best of the three M-Sport cars with the fifth best time and was fighting back after a penalty which was given before the action really started. After damaging the car during shakedown, they exited service late by two minutes and was given a twenty second penalty accordingly.

 

The shorter SS2 Karaski 1 followed, and it was a second stage win for Sami from Oliver and Adrien this time, with Martins showing great pace as well, matching the Frenchman’s pace. Oliver’s pace took him into second overall, pushing Adrien down to third. Meanwhile there were a few other position changes as Thierry passed Seb as he moved into fourth place and both Takamoto and Josh passed Elfyn as they moved into sixth and seventh as the championship leader fell to eighth and Esapekka was now ninth.

 

The final stage of the loop, SS3 Kanepi 1 before the tyre fitting zone saw Sami make it three out of three from Adrien and Oliver. The Finn was building a lead over his teammate as the gap increased to a little over four seconds. There were some more changes further back as Josh passed Takamoto for sixth place and Esapekka moved into eighth at the expense of Elfyn.

 

After the short break came the first of the second loop of the day, SS4 Raanitsa 2 and Sami picked up when he left off setting the pace from Adrien and Oliver. It was clear these three had the best of the road conditions as they continued to set the pace at the front. Takamoto repassed Josh for sixth overall in this one.

 

Next up was SS5 Karaski 2 and there really was no stopping the Finn as he set the pace again from Oliver and Adrien. There was a position change for Elfyn as he re-passed Esapekka for eighth and was now just 2.3 seconds behind Josh. Incredibly Seb, Takamoto and Josh all set an identical stage time in this stage.

 

Onto the final proper stage then, SS6 Kanepi 2 and this stage would decide the running order on Saturday’s stages. Sami was again fastest from Oliver and Thierry and again three drivers set the same pace again with the Belgian, Adrien and Martins all setting the same time, as there were some position changes further back. Firstly, Takamoto suffered a puncture as the tyre just exploded on a straight piece of road. The pace of the Latvian gained him four positions and he jumped to sixth place, whilst Esapekka also gained two positions moving into seventh place at the expense of Josh and Elfyn who emerged in eighth and ninth overall. Takamoto’s puncture saw him lose five positions and he fell to eleventh place.

The special super stage followed, SS7 Elva Linn, but this would not affect the road positions for Saturday and again Sami was fastest from Martins this time and Thierry.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the standings as well.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“I can be very happy at the end of the day. To take a clean sweep of stage wins and be in the lead is really good, and more importantly the feeling behind the wheel has been really great. The driving has just been flowing quite naturally. Of course, we are pushing but I don’t feel like I’m taking big risk and it feels under control. The morning was super tight with our rivals but in the afternoon we managed to make a bit more of a gap. Still, it’s only Friday. There’s two long days still to go, so no chance to relax yet, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow and will just try to keep enjoying it.”

Oliver Solberg

“Second place is a pretty good position, but I can’t be completely satisfied with the day. This morning it was all pretty close, but the afternoon was a bit more difficult in terms of the times compared to Sami, who has done a great job today. I was struggling a bit with the feeling and to find that sweet spot to be able to push. But we’re not far away and we will keep trying to improve some small things. Tomorrow will be a long day and it will be important to manage the tyres when we’re driving the first and second pass on the same set.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I think it’s been a decent day for us. People know that I will never say I’m happy being in fifth place, but I knew coming here it would be challenging and I think we did a decent job from third on the road after five years not competing here. Sami has been flying today, so well done to him: winning all of the stages is something special. On our side there’s still some work to do to try and improve a bit, work on the car and myself to hopefully be closer to that pace tomorrow and catch some more positions.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough start to the rally for us opening the road today with some very loose conditions. We tried to do all that we can, and it didn’t feel so bad behind the wheel. We just weren’t able to put competitive times on the board, and it could be a bit disheartening to see the guys coming faster behind. Thankfully this afternoon with the ruts forming the time loss wasn’t so bad, and tomorrow should at least be a bit better with a couple of cars in front of us.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today didn’t go as expected. It was quite a difficult start already in the morning. We went a bit too much on the soft side with the car setup and it wasn’t working so well in the super high-speed sections. We managed it as well as we could and without losing too much time. Unfortunately, we got damage to two tyres during the second loop and couldn’t continue. It’s very disappointing, but I will just keep trying to do my best over the rest of the rally.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I am very pleased to be third overnight, it has been a good fight today with Oliver [Solberg], and even with Sami [Pajari] at the beginning before he pulled away. I am happy with my driving and the car; it has been a very positive day. Maybe we should have taken some hard tyres this afternoon, which might have helped me a bit more, but there are no regrets. The feeling inside the car has been brilliant, we’re not off the pace, and it’s a dream to be competitive on stages like these.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a bit of a tough day today, but we are going to make some changes before tomorrow’s stage, we will change the transmission and see if everything is working as it should. Then we will see. Those little things, when they don’t work perfectly, can cost you a lot of time especially when you have to reduce your speed and when you don’t have complete trust in the car. We are on the limit, taking a little bit of risk over the jumps – those of us who weren’t flat last year, are basically flat this year – and it’s a tough battle out the.”

Esapekka Lappi

“The driving has not been so challenging for us today, but it has been a bit of a mystery when you look at the times. In testing, we felt really good but today we were very far away. The penultimate stage was a step in the right direction, so it was OK. We changed something with the suspension and the transmission, and it worked because my times were almost matching my team-mates. We will try to do something similar for tomorrow; it might not work for the first pass of the stages, but it might for the second pass.”

 

Classification after Day One

1 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 49:43.5 2 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +14.7 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +16.5 4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +24.0 5 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +33.3 6 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +44.7 7 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +46.5 8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +46.6 9 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +49.8 10 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +1:04.3

Saturday

What does the second day hold then for the crews? Well for starters, there are nine stages and a huge 150 kilometres. Four are run in the morning before service, then a single stage before the final four run with a break in the middle on them. What will the top ten look like at the end of the day and can Elfyn improve his position and move up into the top five?

The championship returns to the fast roads of Ott and Martins homeland. Now the crews will have eighteen stages over almost 302 kilometres. Last year, Oliver and Elliott stepped from their Yaris Rally2 into the top spec Yaris and promptly took stage win after stage win, ultimately taking their first overall championship win.

 

They would love to do this again this weekend, but they will have some serious competition from their teammates and also those at Hyundai and M-Sport Ford.

 

Let’s hear from the crews and take a proper look at the stages.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Greece was a challenging event for us, but we can look forward to something completely different on much faster roads in Estonia and Finland. It’s important to find a good feeling and prepare the car as well as possible for these events, and it was helpful to drive a national rally in Estonia last week to get used to the highest speeds once again. If it’s very dry in Estonia then there can still be some cleaning for us to do, but we just need to focus on doing our best whatever conditions we face.”

Sébastien Ogier

“To win in Greece was very important for us. Moving from there to Estonia will be a big contrast, and especially for me as I haven’t driven this rally for five years. I’m looking forward to being back, though. It’s one of the most spectacular rallies of the season, and a well-organised event with a great atmosphere. I enjoyed my test last week, getting back the feeling for high speed, and hopefully we can be competitive. I’m sure that it will not be easy, but I always enjoy a challenge like this and will give it my best shot.”

Oliver Solberg

“I’m really looking forward to going back to Rally Estonia. It’s a very special place to me after we took our first win there last year. It’s a really cool rally that I’ve always enjoyed: with the high speeds, massive jumps and excited rally fans, it’s a lot of fun. We haven’t had the easiest run of rallies recently, but now I’m going back to a rally where I have experience with this car, and I just want to try my best and see what we can do.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“After a good rally for us in Greece, I’ve got a good feeling to move onto very high-speed stages in Estonia and Finland, which are some of my favourite rallies. You have to be very committed in Estonia, especially on the second pass when the road gets rutted, but the margins are also very small at those speeds. All of my team-mates can also be very strong in these rallies, but I will try my best to achieve good results and take as many points as possible.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m really looking forward to these next two rallies in Estonia and Finland: they are my favourite ones on the calendar. I’m pretty happy with how we finished the last rally in Greece after a difficult start, we’re still in a good position in the championship, and at the same time our starting position should not be too bad for the next rallies and should allow us to be in the fight, so let’s see what we can do.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We’re heading into Estonia with confidence after two gravel rallies where we have consistently shown strong pace and fought for victory. Taking a win and a second place is encouraging, and our pre-event test also felt very positive. We’ve been competitive in Estonia in recent years, and if the conditions stay dry, they should suit us well. The key to this rally is finding the right balance between traction, precision and protection over the huge jumps, while having complete trust in the car. Our goal is clear: to fight for victory and score a lot of points to fight back in the championship.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Estonia is a completely different challenge to Acropolis, instead of rough, slow and technical roads, you’re straight into some of the fastest stages on the calendar, so confidence is everything. I really enjoy this type of rally and we’ve completed a good test to prepare for it. We didn’t get the result we wanted in Greece, but that’s behind us now we are focused on the challenges ahead. Estonia gives us a fresh opportunity and if we can put together a clean and consistent weekend, I’m confident we have the potential to be competitive.”

Esapekka Lappi

“I am very much looking forward to being back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 again, especially as it will be the last outing of this car at these super-fast events, which is cool to be part of. We used the pre-event test to find the correct balance with differentials, suspension, and downforce. If we nail our pace notes, the rest should be easy. It is hard to know exactly where we are on fast gravel, although the recent results have shown the car has performed well on this surface. My hope is to be fighting higher than the top five.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Estonia is always one of the fastest and most enjoyable rallies of the season, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there. Greece gave us a solid platform to build from, and the aim now is to carry that momentum into Estonia. I really enjoy these types of events, so hopefully we can keep improving and come away with another strong result.”

Jon Armstrong

“I’m looking forward to going back to Estonia, I’ve been there twice in JWRC and also once in ERC with the Fiesta Rally2. The stages are completely flat out and the style of the surface is generally nicer for me as it’s a bit more sandy. It’s a good way to kick off the summer of speed in a Rally1 car!”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“This is the time of the year when we are as close as possible to our home country, and happy to call Rally Estonia our home rally this year. We’re hoping to see a lot of Latvian fans to feel as at home as possible! I’m looking forward to a great result here; I think we have a lot of positives to take from last year and we’re looking at having a competitive weekend in Estonia.”

Romet Jürgenson

“Obviously, our home event in Estonia is one of the highlights of the season for us. There is a bit more pressure as well, but we have a lot of local support from our fans which definitely gives us this extra push to get the maximum out of ourselves and the car.

 

“Looking at last year’s pace, I think the goal will be to be up there fighting with the top guys. The route itself has stayed the same over the last few years, so the advantage for the Estonians is decreasing as a lot of drivers have knowledge of these stages; it’ll be a very even fight with small margins. I’m looking forward to it.”

In terms of the stages this is how the days look over the event.

Friday has seven stages over just under 104 kilometres, then Saturday has nine stages over almost 150 kilometres and then Sunday has just two stages and a total of just under 50 kilometres.

Summary

Road position is going to be hugely relevant this weekend and in particular Friday’s stages. Elfyn and Scott, plus Takamoto and Aaron will have the most tricky road position as the first two crews into the stage, they will be sweeping the road clear of the loose gravel and making the road cleaner and ultimately faster for those further back.

Oliver and Elliott were eighth on the road during the first day last year which gave them a good advantage to set the pace and build a lead. This year they will be third on the road which will make things harder, whilst Seb and Vincent, Adrien and Alex, Thierry and Martijn and finally Esapekka and Enni fill the lower positions in the top ten and will give them the best road conditions.

The action begins with shakedown on Friday morning and then the first stage starts at just after one o’clock local time.