WRC 2020, Round 4/7 – Rally Estonia (September 4/6)

WRC 2020

Timetabe

Thursday, 3 September

17:00 Mandatory media safety briefing, Photographers’ Room, Media Center

Friday, 4 September

9:01-15:00 Shakedown Abissaare (6,23 km)
14:15 FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Centre
18:00 Ceremonial start, Podium, Raadi
19:08 SS 1 Tartu (1,28 km)
19:20 Parc Fermé IN (Early Check-in permitted)

Competitive distance: 1,28 km (Liaison 3,03 km, Total 4,31 km)

Sunrise 6:25
Sunset 19:58

Saturday, 5 September

6:33 Start of Section 2, Parc Fermé, Raadi
6:38 Service A (Raadi) – 15 min
Refuel Raadi
7:40 SS 2 Prangli 1 (20,93 km)
8:21 SS 3 Kanepi 1 (16,88 km)
Remote Refuel Otepää
9:08 SS 4 Otepää 1 (9,30 km)
10:00 SS 5 Mäeküla 1 (14,76 km)
11:19 SS 6 Elva 1 (11,72 km)
12:24 First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Raadi
13:44 Flexi Service B (Raadi) – 30 min
Refuel Raadi
14:37 SS 7 Prangli 2 (20,93 km)
15:18 SS 8 Kanepi 2 (16,88 km)
Remote Refuel Otepää
16:08 SS 9 Otepää 2 (9,30 km)
17:00 SS 10 Mäeküla 2 (14,76 km)
18:19 SS 11 Elva 2 (11,72 km)
19:24 First car arrives for media zone & flexi service, Raadi
19:34 Flexi Service C (Raadi) – 45 min
20:24 Parc Fermé IN (Early Check-in permitted)

Competitive distance: 147,18 km (Liaison 366,06 km, Total 513,24 km)

Sunrise 6:27
Sunset 19:55

Sunday, 6 September

5:57 Start of Section 4, Parc Fermé, Raadi
6:09 Service D (Raadi) – 15 min
Refuel Raadi
7:35 SS 12 Arula 1 (6,97 km)
8:09 SS 13 Kaagvere 1 (15,46 km)
9:08 SS 14 Kambja 1 (20,04 km)
10:00 First car arrives for regroup and technical zone
Remote Refuel Elva
10:49 SS 16 Arula 2 (6,97 km)
11:28 SS 17 Kaagvere 2 (15,46 km)
12:04 First car arrives for regroup and technical zone
13:18 SS 18 Kambja 2 Power Stage (20,04 km)
14:38 Holding Area & Technical Zone IN
14:48 Technical Zone OUT – Finish Area IN
15:30 Rally Finish, Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Raadi
Parc Fermé IN (Early Check-in permitted)
16:30 FIA Press Conference

Competitive distance: 84,94 km (Liaison 266,91 km, Total 351,85 km)

Sunrise 6:29
Sunset 19:52

all times local

Rally total:
17 special stages
Special Stages total: 233,40 km (26,8 %)
Liaison 636,0 km
Route total: 869,40 km

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1300840526162415619

Testing

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team:

Thierry Neuville, Estonia 19.8.2020

Craig Breen, Estonia 18.8.2020

Ott Tänak, Estonia 17.8.2020

Sébastien Ogier, Estonia 6.8.2020

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1291417354811969539

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT:

Kalle Rovanperä, Estonia 5.8.2020

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1291055189089234944

Elfyn Evans, Estonia 4.8.2020

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1290567960713625600

Takamoto Katsuta, Estonia 7.8.2020

Elfyn Evans, Finland / Saarijärvi 9.7.2020

Sébastien Ogier, Finland / Saarijärvi 8.7.2020

Kalle Rovanperä, Finland / Saarijärvi 7.7.2020

Takamoto Katsuta, Finland / Saarijärvi 10.7.2020

Janpro Racing:

Esapekka Lappi, Estonia 20.8.2020

https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/1296350878539153409

Hyundai 2C Compétition:

Pierre-Louis Loubet, Estonia 1.9.2020

https://twitter.com/PL_Loubet/status/1300790518104944640

RedGrey Team & PH Sport:

Nikolay Gryazin & Mads Østberg, Estonia 30.8.2020

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1300401472094515201

https://twitter.com/TorsteinEriksen/status/1300147397071458306

2Brally:

Jari Huttunen, Estonia 30.8.2020

M-Sport:

Jan Solans, 25.-26.8.2020

https://twitter.com/RubnPerez/status/1298523343499538432

Kaur Motorsport:

Egon Kaur, Estonia 30.8.2020

https://twitter.com/PontusTidemand/status/1300487527871246339

https://twitter.com/EerikPietarinen/status/1300396042647633923

https://twitter.com/Karlip1/status/1300796352746713089

https://twitter.com/Karlip1/status/1300797569472303104

Preview

The FIA World Rally Championship season makes its eagerly awaited resumption at Rally Estonia (4-6 September), a brand-new addition to a reshuffled 2020 calendar.

More than five months after round three in Mexico, the WRC will restart in line with the guidelines set by the FIA for the return of motor sport as well as the requirements of the Estonian government in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The strict protocol includes mandatory pre-testing for teams, media and officials, the use of face masks, social distancing, the creation of groups to minimise the risk of any possible spread and a controlled number of spectators on the rally route in line with the restrictions for mass gatherings.

While it is new to the World Championship, Rally Estonia has run successfully since 2010 when the country’s first WRC event-winner Markko Märtin won the inaugural edition. Between 2014 and 2016, it was part of the FIA European Rally Championship and in 2019, it was hosted as a WRC Promotional Event with all of the manufacturer teams and several of the leading drivers taking part. The stages in Estonia are similar in nature to those in nearby Finland, especially in terms of speed and feature a smooth gravel surface.

Frenchman Sébastien Ogier leads the drivers’ championship by eight points over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans from Great Britain after their respective victories in Mexico and Sweden at the beginning of the year, while 19-year-old Finn Kalle Rovanperä is fourth in the standings in his rookie season in a World Rally Car – a positive start for all three drivers with their new squad.

Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville from Belgium is third in the standings, 20 points behind Ogier, but the centre of attention in Estonia will be his team-mate Ott Tänak, with the reigning World Champion getting the chance to shine on home ground in the WRC for the first time. Irishman Craig Breen makes his second start of the season in the third factory Hyundai.

Finnish pair Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen will be competing close to home for the M-Sport Ford team, joined once more by Brit Gus Greensmith in the third Fiesta WRC. Toyota fields a fourth Yaris for Japanese protege Takamoto Katsuta, while a fourth Hyundai i20 WRC lines up in the hands of Pierre-Louis Loubet: the reigning FIA WRC2 champion from France will make his debut at the sport’s top level along with the Hyundai 2C Competition team.

The return of the WRC has attracted the largest entry of the year so far across the WRC2 and WRC3 categories for Rally2 machinery, with a combined 28 crews set to take part.

In WRC2, championship leader Mads Østberg (Norway) in a PH Sport Citroën takes on the Hyundai pair of Nikolay Gryazin (Russia) and Ole Christian Veiby (Norway), M-Sport Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux (France) and Toksport WRT adds a second Škoda Fabia for Eyvind Brynildsen (Norway) alongside Mexico winner Pontus Tidemand (Sweden).

In WRC3, Jari Huttunen (Finland) and Marco Bulacia (Bolivia) – both winners at the start of 2020 – head the large WRC3 entry, where Oliver Solberg (Norway) will be among those to watch following his recent FIA European championship victory in the neighbouring Latvia.

Round two of the FIA Junior WRC takes place in Estonia with Tom Kristensson from Sweden leading the field of 12 drivers entered.

THE 2020 ROUTE

Rally Estonia will run under a compact format, with the opening stage on Friday evening in Tartu next to the Service Park at the Raadi airfield. Over half of the rally’s 232.64 competitive kilometres will be covered on Saturday. Prangli, the longest stage of the event at 20.23km, opens a loop of five stages that will be run for a second time following the mid-day service. Sunday features a trio of tests, all run twice, ending with the Maaritsa Power Stage.

MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY ESTONIA

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team:
8 Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (EE)
11 Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (B)
42 Craig Breen / Paul Nagle (IRL)

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT:
17 Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (F)
33 Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (GB)
69 Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (FIN)

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team:
4 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (FIN)
3 Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)
44 Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (GB)

ENTRY LIST

ORD	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR	CL	SEED PR
1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
2	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
3	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
4	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
6	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
7	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
8	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
9	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
10	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
11	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M/T
12	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
13	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
14	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
15	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
16	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
17	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
18	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
19	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
20	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
21	Toksport WRT	Emilio Fernández / Ruben Garcia	CHL/RA	30	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
22	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
23	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
24	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
25	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
26	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
27	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
28	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
29	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
30		Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
31	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
32		Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
33	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
34		Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
35	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
36		Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
37	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
38	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
39	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
40	Tom Kristensson Motorsport	Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg	S	52	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
41	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
42	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
43	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
44		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
45		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
46		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
47		Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson	S	59	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
48	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
49	(ACI Team Italia)	Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia	I	61	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
50	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
51	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
52	OT Racing	Georg Gross / Raigo Mõlder	EE	64	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
53	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
54	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2
55	(KHMK-Racing)	Mika Karppanen / Anne Heinonen	FIN	67	Citroën DS3 R5	RC2	RALLY2
56	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
57		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
58	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
59		Justas Simaška / Titas Simaška	LT	73	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

	(RaceSeven)	Gustavo Sosa / Rogelio Peñate	E	68	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	cancelled entry

Team Previews

Manufacturers: Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team (D) / Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC (Michelin)
8 Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (EE)
11 Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (B)
42 Craig Breen / Paul Nagle (IRL)

After six months away from competitive action, our team is ready for the return of WRC with a brand-new event, Rally Estonia, hosting the fourth round of the 2020 season.

Said to be the biggest motorsport event in the Baltics, Rally Estonia is a high-speed gravel challenge and the fastest rally of the calendar. Smooth and technical roads feature plenty of jumps and crests to keep crews alert, and will demand exact precision from pace notes. 17 stages form a competitive distance of 232.64km.

The rally will be intensive for our crews, held over a condensed three-day itinerary. At the wheel of three i20 Coupe WRC cars with be Thierry/Nicolas, Ott/Martin, and Craig/Paul. All three crews have tested in Finland and Estonia recently, including an outing at the Lōuna-Eesti Rally for Ott and Thierry.

“It’s quite a special moment to come back to WRC events after so much time away,” said our Team Principal Andrea. “Like others, we have worked hard during this period to try to catch-up and improve the things we were missing before.”

Our team is eager to resume our championship defence after mixed fortunes earlier this year. Following victory in Monte-Carlo, we enjoyed consecutive visits to the podium in Sweden and Mexico.

Thierry and Nicolas lie third in the standings, and are ready to mount a fightback in Estonia. “With the restart of the season, I think we all have hopes for a good result. We want to come back and immediately deliver a strong performance,” said Thierry.

Local heroes Ott and Martin have dominated the previous two editions of Rally Estonia. “I really hope we have a home advantage and it’s most important that we use it,” said Ott. “We have to take the maximum from every event now. There is no way to hold back anymore.”

Craig and Paul join us for their second event of the season. The Irishman is well acquainted with the Estonian roads, having competed there four times in the past. “It’s great to get back to competing and some form of normality. I think we can perform well, as fast rallies generally seem to suit us,” he said.

Manufacturers: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (FIN/EE) / Toyota Yaris WRC (Michelin)
17 Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (F)
33 Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (GB)
69 Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (FIN)
18 Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt (J/GB)

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will look to pick up where it left off when the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship resumes at Rally Estonia on September 4-6. The team currently leads the manufacturers’ standings by 21 points, while Sébastien Ogier heads the drivers’ championship with Elfyn Evans second and Kalle Rovanperä fourth. All three drivers made great starts to their debut seasons in the Toyota Yaris WRC at the beginning of this year, with wins for Evans in Sweden and Ogier in Mexico before the season was interrupted because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Rally Estonia is a new addition on the revised 2020 calendar, which allows the season to restart in a safe and responsible way with strict protocols in place to protect everybody involved. This will be the first time that Rally Estonia has ever been part of the WRC, although all of the manufacturer teams fielded cars at last year’s promotional event. It takes place over fast and smooth gravel roads with many crests and jumps. Since restrictions were eased, the team has prepared for the restart with testing in both Finland and Estonia, which included taking part in the South Estonia Rally last weekend.

The event will run to a condensed itinerary with most of the stages taking place on Saturday and Sunday and a total of 232.64 competitive kilometres. The rally is based in Tartu, Estonia’s second-largest city, where it will begin with a short opening stage on Friday evening close to the service park at the Raadi airfield. Saturday will consist of 10 stages in total, with a loop of five tests run in the morning and then repeated following mid-day service. Sunday features three stages each run twice without service inbetween.

Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)
“It is great that we can finally go rallying again, especially for our fans and our partners who have been waiting for this moment. Hopefully we can bring some enjoyment to people in such a difficult period. It feels like a long time ago now, but the beginning of the season was very positive for us and we hope to continue like this. Our drivers are not so familiar with the Estonian stages, but we know that the roads there are fast and this suits our car well. I think that we have prepared as well as we can over the past weeks and I hope that we can compete for the top positions.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“I’m happy that we are able to compete again after so long. Rally Estonia will be new for many of us, but I’m always excited to take on a different challenge. It’s certainly going to be a demanding rally with very fast roads. The Yaris WRC gives you good confidence at these speeds and after the testing we have done in Finland and in Estonia, I have a good feeling in the car. It was also important to have this event last week to help us prepare, because after such a long break it is not easy to find the limit straight away. We will be starting first on the road so we hope that the weather in September could maybe help us to not have too much of a disadvantage, and the target will be to try to fight as best as we can.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It has been a long time since we have driven competitively. It’s been eased by the fact that we could at least do some testing and get back behind the wheel but there’s nothing like competition. Rally Estonia is new to the WRC and I was lucky enough to be there for last year’s event. Although the rally didn’t end so well for me, I did enjoy it and I know a little bit about what to expect. The roads are very, very fast: Similar to Finland in some ways but with a few less jumps, and even faster in some places. As I’ve seen from the testing we’ve done, the car feels strong on these high-speed gravel roads. We’re definitely hoping that we have a good package and hopefully we can get the most out of it.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“The roads in Estonia are really fast and flowing but there are also some narrow and technical sections, so it’s going to be a really tricky rally. You have to be flat out most of the time but then you also have places where you need to be really precise. After the long break, it won’t be so easy to be up to speed in the beginning, but we have had some good testing to help us to be ready. We have been driving in some different weather conditions which has been useful experience for me. I have still only done three WRC rallies in this car and I still need to continue learning over the rest of the season, but this is a rally that should be good for me and I’m hoping for a good result.”

Manufacturers: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (GB) / Ford Fiesta WRC (Michelin)
4 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (FIN)
3 Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)
44 Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (GB)

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs will be back in action this week as the FIA World Rally Championship resumes at Rally Estonia – almost six months after the global pandemic brought world sport to a standstill.

Hosting the return of top-flight rallying, the Estonian fixture has been organised in line with new guidelines set out by the FIA and Estonian Government, and strict protocols to ensure a safe and successful return include mandatory testing, the use of face coverings, social distancing and the creation of groups to minimise the potential risk.

As a new event in a new-look 2020 calendar, Estonia becomes the 33rd country to host a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and is famed for its blisteringly-fast, high-speed, stages. Estonians have a love for rallying and the gravel stages are not unfamiliar to the top teams – all of which attended a WRC Promotional event in Estonia last year.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“It’s great to be going rallying again. I have certainly missed the action – so much so that I got behind the wheel myself on the M-Sport Return to Rally Stages in Greystoke last week. It was good fun and I didn’t embarrass myself, but not in the same league as these guys and I think we’re all looking forward to seeing them blasting through the forests once more.

“This rally is going to be the blueprint for all future FIA World Rally Championship events, and I have to say that the organisers have done a fantastic job in ensuring its safe and successful running. Everything has been considered and planned, and it’s thanks to the hard work of so many behind the scenes that we’re able to get this fantastic sport back up and running.

“Realistically of course, we know that we’re not in the same position as the others teams. With no competition for almost six months, we’ve been hit particularly hard by the global pandemic and had to re-evaluate a lot of what we do. We’ve not had the luxury of testing, but all three crews have had at least some seat time and I know they’re looking forward to being back in action.”

ESAPEKKA LAPPI / JANNE FERM

Having finished on the podium at Estonia’s WRC Promotional event last year, Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm have experience of the Estonian stages which are not too dissimilar from those in their native Finland.

Contesting Lõuna-Eesti Ralli with JanPro Racing’s EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC earlier this month, Lappi had an opportunity to get up to speed with the top-specification Fiesta and will be looking to build on that this week.

Esapekka Lappi said:

“It’s been a long time away from the action, so I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. I was at Estonia’s WRC Promotional event last year and the stages are really nice. They’re quite similar to Finland in some ways, and even faster in some places so the pace is going to be pretty much flat out!

“We know that we’re not in the same position as the other teams and we’ve not had the opportunity to do the same level of testing, but I did manage to drive Lõuna-Eesti Ralli which was really good fun. It was important to get that seat time, and our main objective next week will be to get back out there, get back up to speed, and enjoy rallying again.”

TEEMU SUNINEN / JARMO LEHTINEN

Teemu Suninen had success in simulator racing during lockdown, but the young Finn is ready to get back behind the wheel of the rally car now. And having recently moved to Estonia, this will be something of a home event for the young Finn.

Contesting Lõuna-Eesti Ralli with a Ford Fiesta R5 earlier this month, Suninen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen also had a day testing the Fiesta WRC in Greystoke. Staying in Cumbria after the test, they joined the thousands of Brits enjoying a ‘staycation’ in the English Lake District National Park and were shown the sights by Team Principal, Richard Millener.

Teemu Suninen said:

“I did some simulator racing during lockdown, but I’m definitely ready to get back behind the wheel of the rally car now! It’s been a long time, and I’m really looking forward to Rally Estonia which will be a bit like a home rally for me now!

“We’ve not had a lot of seat time, but I drove Lõuna-Eesti Ralli with a Fiesta R5. That was quite a special rally for me as I organised everything myself – and it made my appreciate how much the team do for us on WRC events as there really is so much you have to think about.

“We also had a day testing the Fiesta WRC in Greystoke. The stages in Estonia are really fast so it was important to have that day getting back up to speed. And we stayed in Cumbria a few days afterwards too – exploring the Lake District with Rich and catching up with some of the guys before we head out to the rally.”

GUS GREENSMITH / ELLIOTT EDMONDSON

Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson will experience the Rally Estonia stages for the first time this week as they continue their first full season with the top-specification Fiesta.

Getting back up to speed following the six-month break, the young Brits had two days putting the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC through its paces in Greystoke forest, and will focus on building their speed throughout the event.

Gus Greensmith said:

“I cannot wait to get back behind the wheel of the Fiesta WRC! We had a couple of days testing in Greystoke last week and I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy pushing the loud pedal in this car!

“We know that we’ve not had the same amount of seat time as some of the other guys, but this is still a learning year for me and the most important thing is to go out there and enjoy it.

“This will be my first time in Estonia and I’ve heard that the stages are incredible. I’m looking forward to experiencing them for myself, and will just aim to focus on my own event – and on learning and improving my times as the weekend goes on.”

WRC2: PH Sport (Citroën Racing) (F) / Citroën C3 R5 (Michelin)
21 Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (N)

WRC3: Tagai Racing Technology (H) / Citroën C3 R5 (Pirelli)
28 Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian (BOL/RA)

Consistently among the leaders since the start of the season, the C3 R5 is set to return to international racing at Rally Estonia (WRC), where it will have five entries.

The year got off to a flying start for the C3 R5, with Mads Østberg winning the WRC2 class in Monte-Carlo and an unprecedented one-two-three-four finish in the WRC3 (Eric Camilli, Nicolas Ciamin, Yoann Bonato and Yohan Rossel). This magnificent start was followed by further success: Østberg topped the WRC2 class again in Sweden whilst Marco Bulacia took the WRC3 honours in Mexico. Yoann Bonato drove his C3 R5 to victory at the Rallye du Touquet-Pas de Calais in the opening round of the French Rally championship, whilst Kris Princen claimed a fine second place at the first round of the Belgian Rally championship in Van Haspengouw. Since racing resumed, the competitiveness of the C3 R5 has shown no signs of waning: Alexey Lukyanuk drove it to victory at Rally di Roma in the European Rally Championship before Østberg and Lukyanuk grabbed a double podium in it (2nd and 3rd) at Rally Liepaja in Latvia, also part of the ERC. At the same time, the C3 R5 has also dominated in Spain with Pepe Lopez and in Italy with Andrea Crugnola, evidence of how easy the car is to drive and its performance level on any surface.

There will be five C3 R5s competing in Rally Estonia (4-6 September) as the world championship resumes. Mads Østberg will lead the way in the WRC2, whilst the other four cars – driven by Marco Bulacia, current joint leader of the WRC3 class, Yohan Rossel, the reigning French champion, Nicolas Ciamin and Sean Johnston – will be looking to impress in the WRC3 category, where there are no fewer than twenty-two entries! Former overall winner of the event (2011 and 2012), and very comfortable on Estonia’s fast roads – not unlike those found in Finland – the 32 year-old Norwegian is determined to use all of his experience to cement his lead in the WRC2. Although this rally is new to the other four drivers, they will be able prepare for it in testing held before the start and give themselves every chance of getting the best possible result in Estonia. They will then tackle the event’s seventeen stages and competitive distance of almost 234 kilometres.

WHAT THEY SAID…

Didier Clément, Head of Customer Racing, Citroën Racing:

“Despite the difficult circumstances, we have kept working hard to enable our customers to fight for victory in the national and international championships. Since racing resumed, the C3R5 has added several podium finishes and wins to its impressive record in Spain, Italy, Norway, Portugal, ERC, etc. We’re really looking forward now to competing again in the WRC and defending our lead in the WRC2 with the C3R5 and Mads Østberg. We’re going to have to manage the lead built up with the wins in Monte Carlo and Sweden. That’s going to be one of the challenges for us in Estonia. As part of our preparations, we entered the C3R5 at Rally Liepaja in the ERC and scheduled an extra test session in Estonia. At the same time, we held a test session on tarmac to fine-tune preparations for the resumption of the French championship at Mont Blanc, a very demanding rally. We’ve got a big line-up for that event too, with nine C3 R5s entered including the championship leader, Yoann Bonato. It is essential to stay on course to turn the C3 R5 into a powerful weapon.”

Mads Østberg, WRC2 leader with the C3 R5

“First and foremost, I’m really happy to be back racing in the WRC, especially in Estonia, which a rally I have won twice before. I know the stages very well and have some excellent memories from here so I can’t wait to get started. Competing in Rally Liepaja in Latvia helped me to get back up to speed after such a long time away from competitive action. We also managed to improve during the course of the rally. And with the testing scheduled this weekend in Estonia, which will enable us to fine-tune a few more details, I’m convinced that we will be well prepared for this race. I’m determined to get a good result here and strengthen my hold on the lead in the WRC2.”

Marco Bulacia, WRC3 joint leader with the C3 R5

“Given that I’m in a good position in the WRC3 championship, I’m very keen to take away a good result from Estonia. Although it will be my first appearance at the rally, I have a full day of pre-event testing scheduled and we’re going to use the sessions to help me feel comfortable in my C3 R5 on this surface. It will then be a question of taking good pace notes so that we can be competitive on the stages, which are renowned for being very fast.”

WRC2: Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team) (D/EE) / Hyundai i20 R5 (Michelin)
22 Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov (RUS)
24 Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson (N/S)

Both our WRC 2 crews enjoyed a season-best result last time out in Mexico, and are hoping to demonstrate further gains in performance in Estonia. Ole Christian/Jonas and Nikolay/Konstantin have competed in local rallies to get acquainted with the i20 R5.

“I’m really looking forward to kicking off the WRC 2 campaign again with Rally Estonia; it’s been a while since the last one!” said Ole Christian. “With the good preparations we had, we are aiming for a podium and it should be possible to fight for victory there.”

Nikolay, who is joined by newcomer Konstantin in the co-driver’s seat, said: “Rally Estonia is one of the most exciting rallies in the Baltic countries. My new co-driver Konstantin is doing great; he is brave and working hard to be precise. My main target is to continue my learning and to get a good result.”

“It is clear the situation is different from where we left things in Mexico. I hope that things will stay in a reasonable way for everyone and we will all be able to enjoy the fight that I’m sure we are going to see at Rally Estonia,” said Andrea. “We have to enjoy and make the most of the rallies between now and the end of the season.”

WRC2: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team / Ford Fiesta Rally2 (Michelin)
25 Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul (F/B)

Adrien Fourmaux and Renaud Jamoul have been racking up the seat time with the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta Rally2 and most recently contested the M-Sport Return to Rally Stages followed by Rallye Terre de Lozère in Fourmaux’s native France.

Leading the latter on Saturday evening, the pairing became victims of their own success – opening the road through the final gravel stages and missing out on victory by just a couple of seconds. But the seat time will hold the pairing in good stead as they return to contest the WRC 2 category at this weekend’s Rally Estonia.

No stranger to the Estonian stages, Fourmaux contested the event with a Ford Fiesta R2T19 last year and more than held his own against the locals – building up to stage-winning pace and securing a competitive third in class.

Adrien Fourmaux said:

“We’ve had a busy few weeks and now I’m really looking forward to being back in the FIA World Rally Championship. We’ve been lucky to do quite a few events recently, so I’ve seen how different countries and championships have adapted to the new rules – and everywhere people have been safe and happy to see the rally cars back in action, as are we!

“I drove the Fiesta R2T19 at Rally Estonia last year so I have some knowledge of the stages – which are really fast and incredible to drive. It’s pretty much flat-out, but there are also some trickier sections where you also have to be really precise. The competition will be strong, but I’m looking forward to it and hope to deliver another good result.”

Junior WRC

The 2020 FIA Junior WRC Championship will resume service along with the FIA World Rally Championship on Rally Estonia for the first time in the history of both series.

The championship that nurtures the future stars of WRC will use the M-Sport Poland built Fiesta Rally4 which was released earlier in the year. The Ford Fiesta Rally4 is an evolution of the 2019 Fiesta R2T and represents M-Sport’s commitment to its ladder of opportunity, while also aligning with the FIA’s new rally pyramid structure.

This year marks ten years since the first Rally Estonia was held and in the decade following the event has built up an impeccable reputation with drivers, teams and fans alike. The rally recently served as an unofficial preparation event for Rally Finland thanks to its smooth but treacherously fast gravel roads, some of which were built specifically for the rally.

Compared to a typical WRC event, Rally Estonia will be shorter affair, with 233.40 competitive kilometres spread over three days. FIA Junior WRC sees its first competitive action in almost six months with a 1.28km super special stage on Friday evening allowing 12 hungry junior crews to push from the get-go in order to grab every stage win point possible – a unique characteristic of the championship. Saturday will see this year’s juniors take on two loops across five speed tests with an additional six stages across two three-stage loops on Sunday finishing with a total of 17 stages, with each one offering a valuable stage win point. In total, a maximum of 42 points could be taken home by one driver should they win all 17 stages and the event. All 12 Fiesta Rally4 cars will be equipped with Pirelli Scorpion K6 tyres and have a total of 14 tyres available for use across the rally including Shakedown.

Using his own M-Sport-built Fiesta Rally2, the 2019 FIA Junior WRC Champion, Jan Solans, will start Rally Estonia with the 2019 FIA Junior WRC co-driver’s champion, Mauro Barreiro, in FIA WRC3. Solans has recently completed a series of intense tests to get as up to speed as possible with Rally2 machinery after a small taste of the action on Rally Spain last year where he made his debut in the series designed for privateer drivers.

Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Team Director, said:

“We are finally going back rallying! We have 12 incredibly talented and exciting FIA Junior WRC crews heading to Estonia with WRC for the first time. I expect there to be very close competition at the sharp end of the field on this rally as our Baltic and Scandinavian crews know these kinds of roads very well. Even looking at the onboards, I can tell this is a driver’s rally and guarantee there will be a smile underneath every single helmet come Friday. I am really pleased that the hard-working team at M-Sport Poland’s Kraków facility has been able to deliver 12 Fiesta Rally4s for this event, it’s a huge undertaking to do so. This is a Junior championship, but it is on the world stage so there is no question, these guys need the most competitive Rally4 machinery on offer, and that’s what they’ve got. That’s all I can guarantee though, I have no idea who will win this one! We are all back with renewed enthusiasm and energy, some will be a bit more rusty behind the wheel than others but, I’m sure everyone will be back in their rhythm once the first loop is done with.”

Pre-event

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1298532594536132609

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1300476179405836290

https://twitter.com/samipajari/status/1300491780127891456

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1300683172255076352

https://twitter.com/HartusvuoriWRC/status/1300451088957673472

https://twitter.com/colmcklein/status/1300806406505992194

https://twitter.com/The_Rally_Guru/status/1300860593310707716

https://twitter.com/HartusvuoriWRC/status/1301838642994962435

Service Park

https://twitter.com/PH__Sport/status/1301543538547712001

https://twitter.com/EerikPietarinen/status/1301511951898603521

https://twitter.com/MauroBarreiro_/status/1301507060404715522

https://twitter.com/KarlKruuda/status/1301059562280226816

https://twitter.com/MikaKarppanen/status/1300719726411345920

Recce

https://twitter.com/HartusvuoriWRC/status/1300851966327824384

https://twitter.com/HartusvuoriWRC/status/1301042691665526784

https://twitter.com/ArnaudREMY/status/1301160443390709761

https://twitter.com/ArnaudREMY/status/1301196283491872769

https://twitter.com/MSesks/status/1301123336701906944

https://twitter.com/samipajari/status/1301182918224752641

https://twitter.com/thierryneuville/status/1301217461975625730

https://twitter.com/eWRCresults/status/1301423457889120256

https://twitter.com/OCVeiby/status/1301422928253407232

https://twitter.com/nikolay_gryazin/status/1301482961209036806

https://twitter.com/DirtFishRally/status/1301450004209512448

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1301491800104992769

https://twitter.com/TeemuSuninenRac/status/1301432075292209153

https://twitter.com/GreensmithGus/status/1301541016550473731

https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/1301576332615323648

https://twitter.com/KalleRovanpera/status/1301571361761046529

https://twitter.com/TakamotoKatsuta/status/1301607517303300096

https://twitter.com/rakanracing1/status/1301494007856541700

https://twitter.com/colmcklein/status/1301524703199334400

Thursday, 3 September

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1301443553978126336

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1301425965533364224

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1301419389342887936

https://twitter.com/volkswagenms/status/1301824711312244738

https://twitter.com/thierryneuville/status/1301567845218897920

https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/1301596265902411777

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1301575211058442241

Friday, 4 September

Competitive distance: 1,28 km (Liaison 3,03 km, Total 4,31 km)

Sunrise 6:25
Sunset 19:58

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1301750819323367424

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1301748136759697408

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1301780749495009280

https://twitter.com/SRT_lv/status/1301789483768188928

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1301760438720499712

https://twitter.com/nepfinland/status/1301793957781934080

https://twitter.com/Nmls79/status/1301763750995861504

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1301769258888761344

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301801053034295296

https://twitter.com/Nmls79/status/1301794126179045378

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301819581695221760

https://twitter.com/alekslesk/status/1301819195974389762

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1301832282249072640

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1301834594048671744

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1301836199888330752

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1301849735125442560

Shakedown, DirtFish

Shakedown, Amateur Rally Cam

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301805162277867521

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301807705267593217

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1301850982410838017

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Rally Estonia
Pre-event Press Conference
Friday 4th September

Present:

Toyota Gazoo Racing
– Sébastien Ogier (FRA)
– Elfyn Evans (GBR)
– Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)

Q: First of all, we are back in action in the FIA WRC at a brand new event, Rally Estonia. Is it an extra motivation, not only being back but in a brand new event as well?
SO: I think that after such a long break, the motivation is there anyway. It’s really nice. I always enjoy going to the new places and discover new roads and I wanted to say, new people. Maybe it’s a bit more difficult to meet the people right now… The road looks beautiful. I think we are all unanimous, that when we’ve seen the road during the recce, we are all enjoying driving on this kind of road, especially with the car we have right now. There are extremely fast roads, while you need to have a lot of confidence. I think luckily for most of us, we have done this test event two weeks ago, which was really helpful. Now I’m looking forward to start the real battle, the real fight. Like I said, this warm-up was very important for me, I feel very good in the car and I’m ready to give my best.

Q: You have mentioned that ‘jump management’ is going to be very important this weekend. Can you explain a little bit about what you mean by “Jump management”?
SO: Basically, it’s the rally that I’m going to do that has the most jumps. In Finland, there were a lot of jumps, but most of them in our days are flat and you just keep the full throttle. Here it’s a different case – some of them are much bigger, some are a bit artificially made, which means that we don’t know how the car is going to react. Maybe some kickback from the rear, maybe some hard landing. Unfortunately, we saw Elfyn last year having a bad reception on the jump. Those are the kind of jumps that we have to manage with the perfect speed. Of course if you slow down too much, you will lose time. But it’s also very easy to do a little bit too much, and have a hard landing, and damage the car, damage yourself or even crash. This is why the jumps for me are going to play quite a big role into the rhythm.

Q: Lot of people are obviously looking at home advantage from Mr Tänak. But naturally he has competed many times across those roads. Do you believe that this is going to be the case this weekend or it’s going to be more of a battle between you?
SO: I think he has already showed it two weeks ago and even a little bit this morning in Shakedown. We know that he is going to be extremely fast and we know fighting with him this weekend is a big challenge. But we never know. Especially I think second pass is going to be a bit tricky this weekend. There might be some very damaged road or big rocks in this conditions. We know that he is able to be very fast, and push very hard but you still have to avoid the trouble in these conditions. I feel that the car is working well for us, too, so we have definitely the right tools in our hands to perform well here. I just hope now that the conditions starting in front will be OK tomorrow. It was the case this morning at Shakedown, I hope tomorrow that there won’t be some cleaning effect for me. But at the end of the day, we start with the same chance. Of course, when you are the local one, it’s always a bit of help. A couple of years ago in Monte Carlo, when I reached the Gap area, I knew a little bit more than the others and that can always give a little bit of advantage. The gaps are very small, so nothing is impossible.

Q: Elfyn, Seb touched on it, your jump last year. A couple of weeks ago in Estonia also, at the Lõuna-Eesti Rally, you went off. I don’t want to talk about the negative. What was the feeling in the car before that happened? Are you satisfied with the kilometers under your belt there?
EE: Yeah, I think we had good testing before we got the chance to do the rally, which was an opportunity to confirm everything we did in testing. Everything feels pretty good in the car, to be honest. So yes, we’re looking forward to what we can do on this event. Like I said, the car is working well and we’ve had some good kilometers behind the wheel. I’m happy and ready to go.

Q: It’s a shortened itinerary from what we’re used to. 233 competitive kilometers. It’s a fast event, it’s always going to be a sprint. Flat out from the start or is there any other strategies that you could employ?
EE: Of course. Obviously, everyone is going to be pushing hard from the get-go. I think in terms of the day itself, both Saturday and Sunday are quite intense days although we are missing a day of competition in comparison to normal. Still, the days that we do compete, are quite full-on, so nothing will be so-so different from normal. But like Seb said, there are areas that can catch you out, especially the topic of the jumps. You can win or lose quite a bit if you take them too slowly, but there is always the risk of damage. There is an element of balancing risk and reward.

Q: You’ve gotten off to an incredible start this season. We saw the win of course in Sweden but it has been consistent performance throughout the events. You’re coming to your 90th WRC event here in Estonia. What is the hope for this weekend?
EE: The hope is always the same: to perform at your best. Obviously, we want to win but then so does everybody else. We know the competition will be tough so we are again here to give it our best shot and see what we can come up with on Sunday afternoon.

Q: Kalle, success for you of course on the roads in Estonia. Brilliant result for you there. How did you find it?
KR: It was a nice test event. It was very good to be back in the car and get back to the feeling in the rallies. For me it was a good feeling in the car all the time and also it has been like that all the time in the test, so I think it should be the same feeling here too.

Q: We saw you achieve your first podium in WRC in Sweden. Feels like an age ago now, of course. Lots of people online and journalists are talking about, maybe you’re the dark horse this weekend Maybe you could be the one walking away with the win. Do you feel that that is the possibility?
KR: I don’t think that this is what we want. Because I have not, for sure, so many rallies behind. Of course I want to improve myself all the time and just have a clean rally and do at least 5-6 races just to get the experience. But I also know that this is one of the events that will be easier for me to be on the pace. For sure I hope that we can be on the podium or have the chance to fight at least. I think that this is the only thing I’ll be happy about.

Q: As pretty much our youngest WRC driver, how frustrating was it for you during the off-season, not to be able to go behind the wheel and continue on the good work that you’ve done in the start of the season?
KR: It was quite difficult for sure. The start of the season was good so it would have been nice to continue like this. For sure in the beginning, the small holiday was nice but then it got too long and I was just waiting to go back into the rally car.

Question from the floor – Agence France Presse, Raphaëlle Peltier (FRA), to Sébastien Ogier

Q: The sixth month break that we’ve had, has this made you reconsider the plans to retire at the end of the season?
SO: There are two answers. First, I’m ready to step out and do something else because I really enjoy the breaks, to be honest. But at the same time I don’t want to stop in such a strange season and a short one. Doing another one and fully more normal (season) would be nice. We didn’t make any agreement, yet, but the wish is there on both sides, for the team and myself. Let’s hope that we can do that soon.

Hyundai Shell Mobis
– Thierry Neuville (BEL)
– Ott Tänak (EST)
– Martin Järveoja (EST)
– Craig Breen (IRL)

Q: Ott, we are here in your home nation of Estonia for the restart the FIA WRC and of course, Rally Estonia. Tell me, what does it feel like to have the WRC steam role right in for the first even?
OT: First of all, it’s been a very long break and we’ve been kind of forgetting already what it means to be in that circus. Of course, it’s nice to start again, especially back in Estonia. I can only say that it was a nice trip from home to here – it took me only one and a half hour! That was definitely the best advantage I had compared to the other guys. Like always, we are definitely looking forward. It will be a tight fight. I’m very happy that we can start again.

Q: No trains involved, no having to check in your baggage. Did you pick Martin up along the way or did he drive you there?
OT: No, we are not so big friends that we are travelling together.
MJ: My road was even shorter, it was 25 minutes.

Q: Of course, you are very much, Martin, here at the home territory, aren’t you?
MJ: Yes, that’s true. Adding to Ott, it’s also good to be back in the competition mode. Especially as we have done some events but now, they are giving also the points, so It’s a little bit different.

Q: Yes, it is a little bit different now. Does that mean – is there extra pressure? When you were here last year, it was a promotional WRC event, there was a great atmosphere of course but you didn’t get the points in the championship. Now of course, it does. You don’t have too many rallies left in this season. Does that put an extra pressure on your shoulders?
OT: Every other year, we’ve done the event. Of course, it’s been still the test even. Now when we’re doing the competition, the only focus goes on the performance to do the best time. Of course there is no testing anymore so the focus is only on one thing.

Q: Martin, previously we’ve seen the rally actually go through your home town, Elva. What’s that like, especially for friends and family, having it all here as a proper WRC event?
MJ: I guess it’s good for them. Of course, the situation currently [with COVID-19] is not so nice but still they can wave and cheer, so that’s good for them.

Q: Have any co-drivers been tapping you on your shoulders, as soon as the Rally Estonia was on the calendar. Was anyone trying to get an extra information from you?
MJ: Yes, Our good friend Torstein (Erikssen). He wrote me already before they announced that the rally was here. He asked me got the notes but I didn’t have anything.

Q: Ott, what about you, have you been sharing the information with your teammates? About what the rally is like? Apparently a lot of these guys have done the rally, Thierry many years ago. Have you been sharing the information about it or you’ve been keeping it all to yourself?
OT: First of all, I guess even more than half of the rally is completely new for myself as well. Secondly, think I have the same amount of the experience as, for example, Craig (Breen) has. Maybe he has even more than me. Okay, I am from Estonia, I know this area. When I started, I used to drive here, so I know a bit. But still by now the organizers have made so many new roads which have been used in the rally, so there will be something new to discover for me as well.

Q: Everybody is saying that you have the home advantage. It makes a difference for everyone. Even Sébastien Ogier said that, when he goes to Gap, he feels that he is a little bit quicker than everyone else. Do you think that this really does count at the end of the day?
OT: The experience definitely counts and if you have some know-how from the past, you can imagine what can happen, it definitely gives you some extra confidence. Rally is all about the experience. If you have some more than the others, then definitely it is a bit of an advantage.

Q: Thierry, you have been here before. But as we discussed yesterday, so long ago. 2013. Do you remember from back then?
TN: Yes.

Q: One jump?
TN: Yes.

Q: Is that all you’re going to say to me today? One man, one word
TN: 2012 was my last time. Very few memories, to be honest, one jump I remember – the very famous jump. All the rest looks pretty much new for me. But obviously I’ve put a lot of effort on driving recently. For example, the opportunity to come here last week definitely helped for the preparation.

Q: Tell me a little bit more about that, though, because you have referenced that you wanted the things to go a little bit better than they did. What was the issue?
TN: Basically, a couple of issues with the pace-notes on the first stage but after that, it went all fine. We just had a couple issues with the car, as well. We struggled on the first loop to get a good feeling and to fix up the car, But in the end, nothing major. This morning, the feeling was pretty good at Shakedown. I know that it’s going to be an interesting weekend, a challenging one, definitely, because we only have a few drivers who really have no experience over here. But we are going to fight. There might be some who are not reachable this weekend but the target is to be on the podium.

Q: Who is not going to be reachable this weekend?
TN: I think there is no secret that Ott is going to be really, really fast on those roads. He is born on such roads and knows them well. They are very special roads and you need to be really committed and to know what is coming. I think he is going to be the main man to beat. After, there will be some Finnish guys as well who are very fast and feel very comfortable on this kind of surface. I did a good recce and I’m definitely going to push.

Q: Mr Breen, let’s turn to you now. As Ott Tänak said, you got some great experience, you’ve been here four times, driving with in a range of different cars. Could it be the surprise, the Rally Estonia?
CB: Definitely piling pressure on me there. Look, it’s obviously an event I’ve done a lot, but I guess not so many times in a World Rally Car. It’s definitely a rally I know quite a bit but like Ott said, they’re using a lot of not just different roads this year, but completely new roads built for the rally, so nobody has any experience with them. For sure, on the roads that we’ve done previously I hope to take something of an advantage, but still you have to link up with the new bits as well and try to be as committed as you can on them. So it’s not going to be an easy challenge.

Q: Do you feel in a different position in a comparison to these guys who are battling for the championship title? Do you feel that you can absolutely go for it or is the pressure wanting to impress Mister Adamo still there?
CB: I guess there is an element of a lot of different things. I guess, since I went in the car for the first time in Finland last year, the goal has always been to try and pick up Manufacturer’s points. It’s difficult when you do not get these opportunities very often. You just have to try to do the best job you can. I definitely do feel confident going into this weekend. Like I said before, it’s a rally I know. Generally speaking, fast rallies for some strange or no reason, are the ones that suit me best. Because you know where I grew up, it is the complete opposite. I think if there are opportunities for a good result, this rally is one of the better ones. I want to impress nobody more than myself. I want to leave this weekend satisfied and if I’m satisfied, I can only hope Mister Adamo is satisfied.

Q: Any issues at all on the recce with the torrential rain yesterday? Did you have to stop at any point out there? Did it cause any kind of distraction? Or are the notes all good?
CB: No. I have to say it was a pleasant surprise how well the roads coped, I thought, considering how much rain had fallen. I think we have seen in the past at some other rallies that if you get a massive downpour of rain like we had pretty much all during the morning yesterday, it can really transform the stages and really turn them up. They actually stayed in quite good shape. I think that’s all credit to the organisers. Again, not only have they from an organisational point of view done something incredible, to make the rally work but also create these roads that are quite durable and strong has been something quite exceptional as well. Let’s hope it continues tomorrow.

M-Sport Ford
– Teemu Suninen (FIN)
– Esapekka Lappi (FIN)
– Gus Greensmith (GBR)

Q: Esapekka, back in action now on Rally Estonia. As with many of the drivers we’ve spoken to in this Press Conference, you have had experience here before. What did you think when you heard that we were coming here to restart the season?
EP: I was really happy, first of all. That we’re going to restart and as we missed out Finland, this is for sure the next rally I would like to do, as it’s very close to it. The nature of the rally is very similar. I enjoyed a lot last year this rally and I’m sure that I’m going to enjoy this weekend as well.

Q: I’m sure you are. It is a high speed event out there – lots of jumps, so dynamic to watch for us. What’s it like to compete at it?
EP: It is for sure. We need to trust the car, the pace-notes and that combination has to be really perfect to be able to be competitive. Sometimes it’s a bit too crazy. Especially this year, it looks that we have more narrow roads but it is still fast. It just doesn’t get any slower. That’s where I feel it’s a bit crazy. But it’s also a part of the work. It needs to be

Q: Are you happy with your runs?
EP: Yes, very happy. I’m a bit surprised of my times but very much in a positive way. Well, let’s see if we can keep it on the rally. I was really on the limit, so I’m afraid we need to step down to be able to finish the rally.

Q: Well, it’s about finding the absolute balance…
EP: Clearly. Probably the rain created some small surprises as well. If some sections or some corners are not really dried up, there might be mud and you can’t see it through the bushes, so that’s why you have to have some small marks.

Q: Talking about Shakedown, let’s talk to Teemu Suninen. It was going well and then it wasn’t going quite so well, Mr Teemu Suninen. What happened at Shakedown to you?
TS: The first three runs were pretty OK, I was finding a good rhythm with the driving and tried to find good confidence with the car and it felt pretty good. Then we came to service, worked on the car set up, went back to the stage and it wasn’t working that well. I lost the control and went off. Not good for our confidence. We just need to forget it, try to get the confidence back and be on the limits again.

Q: It is difficult, isn’t it? It’s such an easy thing to say – get your confidence back! But it’s a difficult one when it’s such a quick event and there is no stages to really warm up on. Maybe tonight?
TS: Tonight is kind of a different stage from the others. I just need to forget what happened in the morning and try to get third (position). I know I’ve been there before – in Mexico, I finished in the podium. I just need to get the similar kind of confidence and find a good rhythm. At least we have proved that we have been there once with the car, so we know that we can do it.

Q: I’m sure you will find that confidence. In terms of preparation of the event, I know that it has been limited for you but you have tested in the UK. How did that go?
TS: It was pretty OK. It was really muddy and it was raining like it normally does in the UK. From that side, it was great as we got some rain on the recce. The idea was to have one test day with the car.

Q: Let’s turn to the man who hasn’t been here in Estonia before. I’m glad to find one because it’s limited around the Service Park. It seems, Gus, that everyone in some way, competed here but you?
GS: Yeah, pretty much. I wish I had competed here before at some point, that is for sure. It’s been six months out of the car. I didn’t do much mileage on the test, so I have to take this one a step at a time.
At Shakedown, everything was going in the right direction but when we went for the second pass, the road was so destroyed… We were just damaging the car. We need to focus on making some good improvements through the weekend. Like Teemu said, he proved the car is very fast. There’s no reason we can’t be there or get close towards the end of the weekend.

Q: For someone who hasn’t been here before, give me your impression on the stages?
GS: In the wide open sections I think they are some of the nicest stages I’ve seen for a long time. Same as EP: I think that the narrow roads tend to ruin the rally a little bit, they are a little bit unnecessary. When it’s wider or even medium kind of size, it’s nice but for sure there’s going be some little mistakes in the forest.

Q: Give us a little bit of insight, what have you been up during the lockdown season?
GS: When I was on the plane back from Mexico, my dad said: you’re going straight to work when you get back, because there’s definitely not going to be any rallying for quite a while. I just got back into it. Like I said, I had the least amount of time in the car. I’m just happy to be back in it and take a step at a time.

Q: So your approach is going to be as you said, one step at a time? No heroics?
GS: No, no. It would be unrealistic compared to the amount of seat-time I’ve had.

Question from the floor – Worldrally.se, Bo Christer Bofeldt (SWE):

To Teemu Suninen and Esappekka, do you know what is happening next year?
EP: If I’m really honest, I have no idea. First of all, is it already from Monte Carlo? As the year is changing, I’m not sure. We have to see where this virus is going. Hopefully I’m driving but like I said, I don’t really no.
TS: I have no idea what is happening next year. The situation in the world is very unclear. Really hoping to get in the car.

FIA WRC2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
– Mads Østberg (NOR), PH Sport
– Nicolay Gryazin (RUS), Hyundai Motorsport N

Q: Mads, you’re two time winner of this event. Tell me what it’s like, first of all, to be back in the FIA WRC and to be back in Estonia?
MO: It’s very good to be back in the competition again. It’s been a long break, which, to be honest, I’ve enjoyed but it’s also very fantastic to be back in the rally car. Really amazing as well to be back in Estonia. I haven’t been here for 8 years. I’ve seen some of the same people, some of the same junctions but not so many similar stages. I’ve recognized a few places and that’s very nice.

Q: Well, that’s also a little bit helpful, as well. What do you think of the route this year?
MO. It looks very nice. To be honest, it’s quite different from what I imagined. I remember the stages from back in 2012 which were much wider and faster from what we are seeing from this event. That’s quite nice to see a bit of a change. Quite a lot of jumps, which I also enjoy. I think it’s a bit more technical and difficult from what I expected but for us, I think that it’s quite positive.

Q: You certainly are the king of jumps, you’ve proved that over the years. You have been in the competition mode, this isn’t the first time we see you back behind the wheel. Do you feel prepared and ready for the pace here?
MO: Well, that’s always difficult to judge before you start the event. But it was nice to be back in the FIA ERC in Liepaja a couple of weeks ago and for sure, the speed there was quite amazing. I think some of the drivers are well prepared and faster than me, so hopefully I’ll manage to close the gap a little bit. We feel certainly well prepared and we have been able to develop the car a little bit to be better suited for these fast stages. I hope that we should be able to improve from what we saw a couple a weeks ago.

Q: You were doing some development testing with Citroën at the start of the week, can you tell us on what areas of the car?
MO: Oh yeah, I probably could…

Q: That’s a big sigh!
MO: It’s always important to do the development. To be honest, Liepaja was also a bit of development work for us as well. We had some new suspensions coming into that event, we had no experience with it. For sure, we have the new bits on the car which should make us faster. We have a different philosophy on the transmission which could also help us a little bit on the faster corners. So we will see if we have found a good average for this rally because there is some slow and technical sections as well where we were already quite fast but we need to find an average to work for the whole event.

Q: Nicolay, good to see you here! You are no stranger to Estonia, you’ve competed at this event previously before. This time is going to be a little bit different as you have a new co-driver on board, how is this relationship going so far?
NG: That’s true. We did this rally last year in a R5 car so it was very exciting. Last year it was training so it was easy to drive. This year I will try to reach the good result and see what we can do on the jumps. The jumps are really incredible, it’s really high. You really need to work on where to jump in the corners and it’s really easy to make a mistake. But it makes it more interesting to fight. The road is fast as usual in Estonia, so it’s a tough challenge for drivers. Konstantin Aleksandrov is my new codriver, it’s an even bigger challenge for him. Because, before he drove only R2 and it’s different in Russia than in the WRC. Here, for him, it will be a big challenge. We did a couple of rallies before Estonia, just to make him feel better in the car. I think now he is in a good shape. He is still trying to learn and to improve. I think during this rally, there will be no problems. We’ll just try to enjoy.

Q: Given that you have a new co-driver on board and as you said, he hasn’t got huge amount of experience and we do have a very strong field of drivers within your category this weekend, what is your hopes in terms of result?
NG: I need to finish and for sure, I want to get good points to make Hyundai to lead in the WRC2 championship. I’ll try to do our best. After the first day, we will see what our pace is. I don’t have big expectations but try to work as hard as we can.

Question from the floor – Worldrally.se, Bo Christer Bofeldt (SWE):

Q to Mads Ostberg: Is it challenging for you to drive and work under coronavirus restrictions?
MO: To be honest, it has been quite okay. I think, we are obviously taking caution and for sure, a lot of the development work in the manufactory has been stopped. So it’s been certainly a very different time than to what we have been used to. We stopped for a while but over the last weeks, I’ve been to the factory and the guys back there have worked pretty hard to present so many ideas. Of course, I haven’t been able to go to France and do the development there, so we have been a little bit stuck. We didn’t get the equipment here either, so we do carry a lot of baggage on the planes. But honestly, we are just very happy that we are able to do our job. We try to be careful and just do the maximum from what we can do on those restrictions.

FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Jari Huttunen (FIN)
Karl Kruuda (EST)

Q: Tell me about how you are feeling coming back into the WRC action?
JH: Of course it’s nice to be back after a long time. I’m really happy and enjoying the comeback.
Q: You have experience of this event under your belt. It’s a very high-paced event and after such a long time that there have been rallies only for a few people out there, how difficult it is for the driver to get on the pace straight away?
JH: Of course, it’s not never easy to find that on really high level and sometimes you have to take some risks. It’s not easy. Let’s see how it’s going.

Q: In terms of the recce that you guys had, yesterday morning we saw incredible rain. Did that affect you? Did it slow you down? Did you have to stop on any point? Did you have any issues on that or not?
JH: No, for me it was OK. In some parts, there was heavy rain but no problems. Let’s see how these stages are during the rally because I did hear that, in some places, it was muddy and could be damaging.

Q: It’s great to see you back in action at your home WRC event. It’s been a year after competition. First of all, WRC in Estonia. Karl, what does that mean to you?
KK: Basically it meant that I cannot miss this event! That’s why I’m sitting here. I’m very happy. Congratulations to all the people that did this job in two months. Last year, I was behind the fence as well with the WRC and I understood it’s not the easiest thing to do. You need to give these people all some credit.

Q: Absolutely. Let’s talk about you and the car. There’s been an interesting livery over the years and this year is no exception. Your car is covered in ducks. Tell me why, and the story behind it?
KK: When you bring WRC to Estonia, you bring all the cameras and worldwide media to it. Your car is in front of the cameras where you can present the things on. This year we thought to explorate something different. I know these times have been difficult to everybody all around the world and nobody takes it easy. But we tend to forget that people are already struggling and what they have to go through. On that note, we thought to promote the children with cancer and to donate to them so we could gather big amount of money together. We succeeded with that as well a week ago but we’re still keeping it open so people could support the people who struggle a lot more than we do.

Q: That’s a very worthy cause, Karl. Congratulations for doing that. Tell me, what are you hoping for personally in terms of competition this weekend? What are you hoping to achieve?
KK: On the competition side I just want to enjoy the whole event. I had a chance a couple of years ago to drive this but I had an accident after the second stage and had to retire. A couple of minutes ago I started thinking that the last time I drove Rally Estonia was five years ago. I’d really like to have a trouble free event. My personal goal is to a least match the top guys on my right setting the pace for me. If I can do that, I’m very, very happy.

FIA Junior WRC CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Ken Torn (EST)
Martins Sesks (LVA)

Q: Ken, it is the home event for you this time. Rally Estonia on the FIA WRC calendar. How does that feel?
KT:It feels good. We don’t need to travel the long way. I’ve always enjoyed the south Estonian roads.

Q: Does it add extra pressure to perform?
KT: Maybe, but I don’t want to think too much about that. We are just doing our things. I hope that if we do all great, then we will be fighting for the top positions.

Q: You had success recently in Latvia, of course, where we saw a fantastic battle between you and Martins. Is there a big rivalry between you two?
MS: Definitely.
KT: Actually, Martin has been a good competitor for me. We’ve fought in the Estonian championships, in Junior and ERC. For sure.

Q: Did the event in Latvia give you a good sense of the speed and everything you are approaching at this event. Do you feel prepared?
KT: Yeah, I think so. Rally Latvia is the good preparation for Rally Estonia. Maybe there are a little bit faster roads than there but the surface is not so similar. We’ve had the experience for years on that surface, and a good feeling on the road.

Q: There is a good line-up, as always. But seeing as this is your home event, do you feel that you are the favorite for the win?
KT: We hope so, but I think that the other competitors think the same, so let’s see.

Q: Martin, talk us about how, and most importantly. Good to be back?
MS: Good to be back. Especially be back here, in Estonia. As Ken said, we’ve had quite nice battles in the previous years here as well. Estonia is something between Rally Finland and Rally Liepaja.

Q: Martin, this is an incredible event that we have seen from 2010 onwards. How would you describe the stages to people, who have never seen them, from around the world? What are they like?
MS: As Ken said, it’s a mix between Latvian roads, and a little bit of Finland’s as well. It’s something mixed but still it’s very, very fast and very enjoyable.

Q: You said that there is a definite rivalry between yourself and Ken. Are you seeing yourself as a favorite this weekend?
MS: I don’t want to make that pressure. For sure we want to do our job as good as we can and hoping for the best.

Q: How did Shakedown go this the morning? Any problems or it was feeling good?
MS: We thought it went good. For sure there was also some rocks and we hit something as well on Shakedown. It was good to prepare for the rally because it will be quite rocky at some places during the event.

Q: Did the heavy rain gave any impact on your recce this weekend?
MS: I hope not. We will see tomorrow. Actually not, the road is really good with absorbing all the water that came from the rain. I think there shouldn’t be any problem.

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1301895256103845889

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301901441204998146

The starting order:

ORD	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR	CL	SEED PR
1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
2	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
3	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
4	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
6	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
7	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
8	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
9	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
10	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
11	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
12	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
13	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
14	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
15	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
16	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P2
17	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
18	OT Racing	Georg Gross / Raigo Mõlder	EE	64	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
19	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
20	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
21	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
22	Toksport WRT	Emilio Fernández / Ruben Garcia	CHL/RA	30	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
23	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
24	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
25	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
26	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
27	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
28	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
29	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
30	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
31		Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
32	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
33		Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
34	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
35	(Printsport)	Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
36	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
37		Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
38	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
39	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
40	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
41	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
42	Tom Kristensson Motorsport	Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg	S	52	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
43	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
44	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
45	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
46		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
47		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
48		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
49		Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson	S	59	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
50	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
51	(ACI Team Italia)	Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia	I	61	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
52	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
53	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
54	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2
55	(KHMK-Racing)	Mika Karppanen / Anne Heinonen	FIN	67	Citroën DS3 R5	RC2	RALLY2
56	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
57		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
58	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
59		Justas Simaška / Titas Simaška	LT	73	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

Results after Section 1

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1301942326349230080

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1301927172370763776

https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/1301926843940040705

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1301942572038922240

SS 1, FIA World Rally Championship

Day 1, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC

Saturday, 5 September

Competitive distance: 147,18 km (Liaison 366,06 km, Total 513,24 km)

Sunrise 6:27
Sunset 19:55

The starting order:

ORD	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR	CL	SEED PR
1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
2	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
3	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
4	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
6	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
7	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
8	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
9	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
10	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M
11	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1	M/T
12	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
13	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
14	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
15	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
16	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
17	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2	WRC2
18	OT Racing	Georg Gross / Raigo Mõlder	EE	64	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
19	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
20	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
21	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
22	Toksport WRT	Emilio Fernández / Ruben Garcia	CHL/RA	30	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
23	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
24	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
25	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
26	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
27	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
28	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
29	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
30	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
31		Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
32	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
33		Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
34	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
35	(Printsport)	Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
36	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
37		Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
38	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
39	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
40	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3	WRC3
41	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
42	Tom Kristensson Motorsport	Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg	S	52	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
43	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
44	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
45	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
46		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
47		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
48		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
49		Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson	S	59	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
50	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
51	(ACI Team Italia)	Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia	I	61	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
52	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
53	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4	JWRC
54	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2
55	(KHMK-Racing)	Mika Karppanen / Anne Heinonen	FIN	67	Citroën DS3 R5	RC2	RALLY2
56	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
57		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
58	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
59		Justas Simaška / Titas Simaška	LT	73	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302104963141820418

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302102099916926978

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302094949933080576

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302101188037541888

https://twitter.com/paddocknews/status/1302099208560955393

SS 2: Nikolay Gryazin had a full speed spin. Lost at least 10 seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302112590563336198

SS 2: Ole Christian Veiby hit a haybale hard. Lost a couple of seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302114561357754369

SS 2: Georg Gross went off the road and the car was badly damaged. Retired

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302120195046207488

SS 2: Sami Pajari hit a post, tie rod and bottom arm fot twisted. Lost some time.

https://twitter.com/samipajari/status/1302191303883710464

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302112627318030338

https://twitter.com/KalleRovanpera/status/1302112698172411904

SS 3: Kalle Rovanperä had a rear-right puncture. Lost at least 25 seconds.

https://twitter.com/KalleRovanpera/status/1302122852523614210

SS 3: Oliver Solberg had a puncture.

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1302133807194267648

SS 3: Tom Kristensson had a heady landing and after that the car stopped. At the service it was noticed that a crankshaft is broken and not able to repair. Retired

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1302146815882661888

SS 3: Raul Badiu damaged the radiator punting a hay bale across the stage. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1302145974253629440

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1302253644780371968

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302123681133613056

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302138044213071872

SS 4: Mads Østberg was landing on a jump and straight away got a puncture. Lost at least 20 seconds.

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1302140329261441024

SS 4: Fabio Andolfi stopped due to the engine problems. Retired

https://twitter.com/Andolfifabio/status/1302339772053164037

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302139608252194816

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302136182613127168

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302139519202926594

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302148159955546113

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1302161238223454209

SS 6: Esapekka Lappi had a overshoot at a junction and had to reverse. Lost some time.

SS 6: Pierre-Louis Loubet brakes too late and hit the concrete blocks. Lost a couple of seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302168532151566336

SS 6: Adrien Fourmaux had a puncture. Lost over 20 seconds.

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302174012773142528

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302168167389822976

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302168375754399744

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302182931457282049

https://twitter.com/HuttunenRacing/status/1302196458616168448

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302206425318461441

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302200042544156673

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302201961245298688

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302209319329464320

The starting order:

ORD	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR	CL	SEED PR
1	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
2	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
4	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
5	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
6	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
7	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
8	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
9	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
10	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
11	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
12	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
13	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
14	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
15	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P2
16	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
17	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
18	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
19	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
20	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
21	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
22	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
23	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
24	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
25	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
26	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
27	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
28	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
29		Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
30	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
31	(OT Racing)	Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
32	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
33	(Printsport)	Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
34	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
35	(TAIF Rally Team)	Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
36	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
37	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
38	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
39	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
40	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
41	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
42		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
43		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
44	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
45	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
46	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
47	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2
48	(KHMK-Racing)	Mika Karppanen / Anne Heinonen	FIN	67	Citroën DS3 R5	RC2	RALLY2
49	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
50		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
51	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

SS 7: Elfyn Evans had a puncture at the end of the stage. Lost at least 3-4 seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302215141266796550

SS 7: Sébastien Ogier arrived at the stage finish with tyres pushed off of the rim.

SS 7: Thierry Neuville got kicked off the line on a very fast left-hander. Tried to recover it and unfortunately there was something on the outside which damaged the wheel and it was hanging off. Was able to limp through to the stage finish and tried to make some repair, but it was not possible. Lost at least 1.15 minutes. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/thierryneuville/status/1302216786578944000

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302216399805468673

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302218695754887169

SS 7: Craig Breen arrived at the stage finish with tyres pushed off of the rim.

SS 7: Georg Linnamäe went off the road. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302229270710890496

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302218210218061824

SS 8: Ole Christian Veiby had a double puncture and no more spares. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/OCVeiby/status/1302232688372396032

SS 8: Eerik Pietarinen damaged the front left-hand suspension arm. After the stage was not able to repair with the tools available on-board. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/EerikPietarinen/status/1302256490925957124

SS 8: Ken Torn had a double puncture and no more spares. Retired -> Rally 2

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1302243864770760706

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302227551138574342

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302242332239171587

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302239826461241345

https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/1302237752700923904

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302255304676081665

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1302264562121674753

SS 11: Gus Greensmith had a 360-spin.

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302286836400877571

https://twitter.com/OttTanak/status/1302275102625746944

https://twitter.com/Craig_Breen/status/1302288097447759873

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302273839393628166

https://twitter.com/KalleRovanpera/status/1302272832458682368

https://twitter.com/JonneHalttunen/status/1302314118062448640

https://twitter.com/ElfynEvans/status/1302308352328953858

https://twitter.com/TakamotoKatsuta/status/1302311066081390592

https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/1302278661664579584

https://twitter.com/TeemuSuninenRac/status/1302299116144336901

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302290651095150597

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1302289136804597766

https://twitter.com/OfficialWRC/status/1302305754939039746

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1302284900360429568

https://twitter.com/HuttunenRacing/status/1302292388610748429

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302277323811696641

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302278163918135298

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302321982294425606

https://twitter.com/MSesks/status/1302291415242858496

https://twitter.com/samipajari/status/1302293408128659458

https://twitter.com/Oldrati_Enrico/status/1302302253718568962

Ott Tänak dominated the field on Rally Estonia’s first full day of action to end Saturday at the top of the leaderboard. The fight for the final podium is intense with Breen in second and Ogier converging over third as Neuville retired for the day.

Driving on home roads, Tänak shrugged aside the series’ six-month COVID-19 lay-off to head Estonia’s first World Rally by 11.7 seconds. On a superb day for his Hyundai squad, team-mate Craig Breen held second in an identical i20 World Rally Car.

Estonia became the 33rd country to stage a championship round as the competition reached a landmark 600th event since it began in 1973. Tänak celebrated by taking an iron grip on the blisteringly fast sandy roads on which he developed his career.

19 year-old youngster Kalle Rovanperä grabbed the lead in this morning’s opening speed test. Tänak was only fourth after being hampered by a soft tyre, but charged to the front on the next stage and built a 6.8s mid-leg margin over Breen.

The repeated roads were rougher this afternoon, but Tänak doubled his lead before throttling back, content to have won three of today’s 10 stages.

Breen’s part-time programme brings less chance to impress, but the Irishman laid claim to being driver of the day. He won two stages and was second on three more.

Hyundai was on course for a clean sweep of the top three as Thierry Neuville was on Breen’s heels. But his i20 bounced out of a rut, swiped a bank and smashed the rear right suspension, leaving the Belgian stranded.

Championship leader Sébastien Ogier replaced Neuville in third. The Frenchman, driving a Toyota Yaris, won two stages but was hindered by two tyres delaminating and a final test stall.

Ogier trailed Breen by 17.0s and headed team-mate Rovanperä by 6.2s. The young Finn’s early lead vanished with a puncture, which relegated him to eighth but he recovered to snatch fourth from fellow Yaris driver Elfyn Evans in the final stage. Sadly, the crew received a one-minute penalty for removing their radiator blanking plate in the control area before the start of SS10, which made them drop to 6th place.

Evans was third initially but struggled to retain his rhythm and tyre troubles saw him slide back to fifth. The Welshman had 25.1s in hand over team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, the Japanese youngster belying his lack of experience to stay on course for a career-best sixth. With Rovanperä’s misfortune, they respectively climb up to fourth and fifth.

Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen struggled for grip in their Ford Fiestas in seventh and eighth, with World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet and Gus Greensmith completing the leaderboard.

In FIA WRC2, PH Sport’s Mads Østberg recovered from early drama to open a comfortable lead in category thanks to eight impressive stage wins with his Citroën C3 Rally2. He eventually rounded out a long day of action with a 37.8sec advantage over Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin with his NG i20 car. M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, is third in a Ford Fiesta MkII.

In FIA WRC3, Norway’s Olivier Solberg and local hero Egon Kaur traded stage times throughout the afternoon, but Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 pilot Solberg did enough to extend his lead to 17.8s at the close of play. Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz is third, 14.6s ahead of Jari Huttunen, with Marco Bulacia in fifth.

Local driver Robert Virves continues to lead FIA Junior WRC on his category debut, holding a 11.2s advantage over Mārtiņš Sesks.

Ken Torn had been in the thick of the battle but was eliminated from the contest on SS9 when his Ford Fiesta Rally4 picked up a double puncture. With an insufficient number of spares, Torn called it quits and retired for the day. As a result, it’s Sami Pajari who holds third, 37.1s adrift of Virves.

SS 2-6, FIA World Rally Championship

SS 7-11, FIA World Rally Championship

WRC2 Highlights Saturday, FIA World Rally Championship

WRC3 Highlights Saturday, FIA World Rally Championship

JWRC Highlights Saturday, FIA World Rally Championship

Day 2, Amateur Rally Cam

Day 2, 27 OCTANE

Day 2, SAXX1979

Day 2, Aivo Jurken

Sunday, 6 September

Competitive distance: 84,94 km (Liaison 266,91 km, Total 351,85 km)

Sunrise 6:29
Sunset 19:52

The starting order:

ORD	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR	CL	SEED PR
1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
2	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
3	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	WRC	WRC	P1
4	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
5	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
6	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
7	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
8	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
9	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
10	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
11	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	P1
12	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
13	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
14	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P2
15	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
16	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P2
17	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P2
18	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
19	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
20	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
21	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
22	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
23	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
24	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
25		Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
26	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
27	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
28	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
29	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
30	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
31	(Printsport)	Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
32		Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
33	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC
34	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
35	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
36	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
37	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
38	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2
39	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
40	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
41	(TAIF Rally Team)	Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	P3
42	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	P3
43	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2
44	Toksport WRT	Emilio Fernández / Ruben Garcia	CHL/RA	30	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
45	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	P3
46	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
47		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
48		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
49	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
50	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
51		Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson	S	59	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
52		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	P4
53		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
54	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
55		Justas Simaška / Titas Simaška	LT	73	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302467644843593729

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302448925488623617

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302463824944148480

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302454550020984832

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302475160004505600

SS 13: Pierre-Louis Loubet hit something and had a steering issue. Stopped to make repairs.

https://twitter.com/PL_Loubet/status/1302484434365616129

SS 13: Takamoto Katsuta went off the road and rolled at 13,3 km. Retired

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302480121341906944

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302481060157173760

https://twitter.com/TakamotoKatsuta/status/1302491620143779841

https://twitter.com/HartusvuoriWRC/status/1302519150108200960

SS 13: Raul Jeets went off the road and rolled. Retired

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302494900521492482

SS 13: Ken Torn lost the brakes and had a broken halfshaft. Retired

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302506499936317442

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302484127883710465

SS 14: Robert Virves had a puncture. Lost almost 45 seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302514608889102336

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302498378065088512

https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/1302498856102395905

SS 15 Gustav Kruuda rolled, but was able to continue. Lost at least 10 seconds. The radiator started to leak and was not able to repair it. Retired

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302550009041256449

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302521345515937792

SS16: Esapekka Lappi had a spun, when the car jumped out of he ruts. Lost at least 10 seconds.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302528887814082566

SS 16: Ole Christian Veiby went off the road and rolled. Retired

https://twitter.com/OCVeiby/status/1302547995452465153

SS 16: Egon Kaur had a rear puncture. Lost over 1 minute.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302538547275145216

SS 16: Fabrizio Zaldivar lost the brakes. Lost at least 1 minute.

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302532709332463616

https://twitter.com/OttTanak/status/1302548390329356290

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1302552378030338050

SS 17: Nikolay Gryazin had a front left puncture. Lost almost 3 minutes.

SS 17: Thierry Neuville had some technical issues. Lost over 30 seconds.

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302573023485198336

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302559457377947648

SS 17: Kajetan Kajetanowicz went off the road. Retired

https://twitter.com/Kajto_pl/status/1302573771686117376

SS 17: Fabrizio Zaldivar drove also this stage without the brakes. Lost at least 1.30 minutes.

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302562854659395585

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302566797636403205

https://twitter.com/RallyEstonia/status/1302566551107887104

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302566417179475969

https://twitter.com/OttTanak/status/1302566895766380546

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1302565563915538432

https://twitter.com/Craig_Breen/status/1302568127331545090

https://twitter.com/TGR_WRC/status/1302567701995548672

https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/1302649054221004800

https://twitter.com/ElfynEvans/status/1302606127117590528

https://twitter.com/KalleRovanpera/status/1302606575933292545

https://twitter.com/JonneHalttunen/status/1302579394112819201

https://twitter.com/JonneHalttunen/status/1302579612149583873

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302572519455682561

https://twitter.com/TeemuSuninenRac/status/1302598781041598464

https://twitter.com/GreensmithGus/status/1302573987906629634

https://twitter.com/volkswagenms/status/1302570178077757446

https://twitter.com/OliverSolberg01/status/1302558935723974657

https://twitter.com/CitroenRacing/status/1302573185242673153

https://twitter.com/MadsOstberg/status/1302561412896690177

https://twitter.com/HuttunenRacing/status/1302650984938733570

https://twitter.com/MSportLtd/status/1302556611668512768

https://twitter.com/AdrienFourmaux/status/1302618422753349635

https://twitter.com/PontusTidemand/status/1302573540835815424

https://twitter.com/nikolay_gryazin/status/1302884947015991297

https://twitter.com/EerikPietarinen/status/1302872407397543937

https://twitter.com/OCVeiby/status/1302852582302453760

https://twitter.com/rakanracing1/status/1302960553103683584

https://twitter.com/FIAJuniorWRC/status/1302577437734252550

https://twitter.com/MSesks/status/1302640271260356609

https://twitter.com/samipajari/status/1302637803898011654

Ott Tänak claimed his first World Rally Championship victory on the series’ return in Estonia. The Hyundai driver survived a late fright to deliver a popular home win on Sunday afternoon and climbed from fifth to third in the overall classification.

Tänak led most of the way to win the three-day gravel road Rally Estonia by 22.2 seconds in a Hyundai i20. Team-mate Craig Breen completed a 1-2 for Hyundai and matched his career-best result.

Estonia was the 600th WRC round since the championship began in 1973 and marked the championship’s return after a six-month pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tänak was the pre-event favourite and after taking the lead early in Saturday’s opening leg, the Estonian was never headed. But his bid for a maiden victory with the Korean manufacturer almost came unstuck in the penultimate speed test.

He swiped a bank with the rear of his i20, but the damage proved cosmetic only and he eased through the final special stage to secure his first victory for the team.

Tänak is now 13 points behind championship leader Sébastien Ogier. Second for an emotional Breen enabled the squad to close the gap to manufacturers’ series leaders Toyota Gazoo Racing to five points.

Breen finished only 4.7s clear of Ogier, admitting his attempt to measure his pace in the final stage allowed the Frenchman to come closer than intended. It was, however, a hugely impressive performance from the Irishman who is not a regular WRC starter.

Ogier headed a trio of Yaris finishers, satisfied that a podium keeps his hopes of a seventh world title on track, but disappointed he did not have the grip to match Tänak’s pace on Saturday afternoon.

Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä were fourth and fifth, both losing time with tyre troubles. Rovanperä incurred a 60s penalty last night for working on his car in a prohibited zone, but the 19-year-old earlier became the youngest driver to lead a WRC rally at just 19.

Takamoto Katsuta rolled out of what would have been a career-best fifth place. His error promoted the Ford Fiestas of Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi to sixth and seventh, the Finns swapping places after Lappi lost time with a big spin.
Gus Greensmith was eighth after World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet retired with broken steering after hitting a tree stump. FIA WRC3 support category winner Oliver Solberg was ninth with FIA WRC2 victor Mads Østberg completing the leaderboard.

Østberg recovered from a puncture on his PH Sport prepared Citroën C3 on Saturday morning before blasting away from rivals and claiming a resounding victory in the FIA WRC2 category. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux finished second – a better result than he had anticipated – when a painful last-minute puncture for Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin gifted him the position. Pontus Tidemand drove a consistent rally in his Škoda Fabia Rally2 and was rewarded third as Gryazin hit trouble, 1min 21.7sec behind.

Winner of the FIA European Rally Championship’s Rally Liepaja last month in Latvia, Oliver Solberg was unstoppable in neighbouring Estonia, clinching his first ever FIA WRC3 win and first WRC points finish with ninth place overall. His closest rivals this weekend, local hero Egon Kaur and triple FIA ERC champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, both encountered problems on Sunday. Kaur slipped from second to fourth behind Rally Sweden WRC3 category winner Jari Huttunen, but those positions became third and second when Kajetanowicz rolled his Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo on the final stage.

In FIA Junior WRC, Latvia’s Martins Sesks scored his first victory following late misfortune for long-time leader Robert Virves. The Estonian had seen his overnight lead cut to just 5.3s by Sesks, but worse was to follow when a puncture four stages from the finish cost 45sec and demoted him to third. Sesks however never put a foot wrong throughout the three-day event. Sami Pajari from Finland finished second, 14.7s behind him.

Final results

1. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	1hr 59min 53.6sec
2. Craig Breen (IRL) / Paul Nagle (IRL)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	2h 00min 15.8sec
3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)	Toyota Yaris WRC	2hr 00min 20.5sec
4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)	Toyota Yaris WRC	2hr 00min 35.5sec
5. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN)	Toyota Yaris WRC	2hr 01min 12.3sec
6. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)	Ford Fiesta WRC	2hr 02min 33.2sec
7. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN)	Ford Fiesta WRC	2hr 02min 45.6sec
8. Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Elliott Edmondson (GBR)	Ford Fiesta WRC	2hr 04min 47.4sec
9. Oliver Solberg (NOR) / A. Johnston (IRL) – FIA WRC3	Volkswagen Polo Gti	2h 07min 32.2sec
10. Mads Østberg / T. Eriksen (NOR) – FIA WRC 2	Citroën C3	2h 08min 10.9sec

SS 12-14, FIA World Rally Championship

SS 15-17, FIA World Rally Championship

WRC2 Highlights Sunday, FIA World Rally Championship

WRC3 Highlights Sunday, FIA World Rally Championship

JWRC Highlights Sunday, FIA World Rally Championship

Review, Hyundai Motorsport

Review, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC

Day 3, 27 OCTANE

Day 3, SAXX1979

Highlights, DirtFish

Highlights, peltikoppa

Highlights, pangazrally

Highlights, Rando Kleimann

Highlights, Onueedu

https://twitter.com/rallyparadise/status/1303417615537377282

RESULTS

	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR		TIME		REG.NO
1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	8	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	1:59:53.6	M	ALZWR44(D)
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	42	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	2:00:15.8	M	ALZWR43(D)
3	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	17	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	2:00:20.5	M	SP1016(EE)
4	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	33	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	2:00:35.5	M	SP1017(EE)
5	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	69	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	2:01:12.3	M	SP1007(EE)
6	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	3	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	2:02:33.2	M	XM59ORT(GB)
7	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	4	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	2:02:45.6	M	X1FMC(GB)
8	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	44	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	2:04:47.4	M	OM59ORT(GB)
9	(HTB Racing)	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	35	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:07:32.2	WRC3	TCF76T(S)
10	PH Sport (Citroën Racing)	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	21	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:08:10.9	WRC2	EZ-004-FT(F)
11	(2Brally)	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	27	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:08:31.2	WRC3	ALZR566(D)
12	Kaur Motorsport (Top Cars Rally Team)	Egon Kaur / Silver Simm	EE	41	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	2:09:20.0	WRC3	SP10-11(H)
13	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul	F/B	25	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	2:09:39.3	WRC2	PX68DHG(GB)
14	Toksport WRT	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	23	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	02:11:01	WRC2	AWTS191(D)
15	Toksport WRT	Eyvind Brynildsen / Ilka Minor	N/A	26	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	2:11:03.1	WRC2	AWTS181(D)
16	(Printsport)	Karl Kruuda / Dale Moscatt	EE/AUS	39	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:11:37.1	WRC3	A-6476(FIN)
17	(DG Sport Compétition)	Nicolas Ciamin / Yannick Roche	F	29	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:11:44.9	WRC3	1-HCA-050(B)
18	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov	RUS	22	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:12:03.5	WRC2	ALZR581(D)
19	(Tagai Racing Technology)	Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	BOL/RA	28	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:12:08.8	WRC3	KNS096(SVK)
20	(TGS Worldwide)	Rainer Aus / Simo Koskinen	EE	40	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:12:16.7	WRC3	SP0350(EE)
21	Saintéloc Junior Team	Sean Johnston / Alex Kihurani	USA	50	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:12:24.8	WRC3	FJ-369-CT(F)
22	PH Sport (Team France FFSA Rallye)	Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand	F	31	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:12:36.2	WRC3	EZ-072-FT(F)
23	(OT Racing)	Priit Koik / Alari-Uku Heldna	EE	43	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:13:56.9	WRC3	SP0420(EE)
24	(BMAutosport)	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	LUX/B	36	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:14:15.9	WRC3	OCH86(D)
25	JanPro	Kimmo Kurkela / Reeta Hämäläinen	FIN	65	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	2:15:35.7		PX66DMV(GB)
26	(M-Sport Poland)	Jan Solans / Mauro Barreiro	E	47	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	2:16:03.1	WRC3	KRA4849U(E)
27	(Plon Rally Team)	Jarosław Kołtun / Ireneusz Pleskot	PL	49	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	2:21:05.7	WRC3	L1PLON(PL)
28	LMT Autosporta Akademija	Mārtiņš Sesks / Renars Francis	LV	53	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:21:20.5	JWRC
29	Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen	FIN	55	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:21:35.2	JWRC
30	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Robert Virves / Sander Pruul	EE	63	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:21:58.3	JWRC
31	(TAIF Rally Team)	Radik Shaymiev / Alexey Arnautov	RUS	48	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	2:24:09.0	WRC3	SP0050(EE)
32	(Tehase Auto)	Gregor Jeets / Kuldar Sikk	EE	72	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:25:21.9
33		Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards	GB	58	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:26:33.2	JWRC
34	(RedGrey Team)	Roland Poom / Erik Lepikson	EE	38	Ford Fiesta Rally2	RC2	RALLY2	2:27:09.1	WRC3	SP0050(EE)
35	(ACI Team Italia)	Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina	I	60	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:28:24.4	JWRC
36	Sports Racing Technologies	Alexander Rzhevkin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	66	ŠKODA Fabia R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:29:25.4
37		Fabrizio Zalvidar / Fernando Mussana	PY/RA	57	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:30:50.3	JWRC
38	(ACI Team Italia)	Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio	I	62	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:32:05.2	JWRC
39	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	2:42:30.6 SR	WRC3	IZM-38(LV)
40		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:49:28.4 SR
41	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	2:49:50.9 SR
42	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	2:59:51.8 SR	WRC3	SP0540(EE)
43	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	3:44:13.8 SR	WRC3	A-6480(FIN)
44		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	3:46:06.5 SR	JWRC
	LEADING RETIREMENTS	SS=Special Stage
SS	ENTRANT (TEAM)	DRIVER/CODRIVER	NAT.	NR	CAR	GR		CAUSE		REG.NO
7	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	11	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC	hit a rock -> wheel bearing	M	ALZWR42(D)
13	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais	F	7	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	WRC	WRC	steering	M/T	ALZWR35(D)
13	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barritt	J/GB	18	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC	accident		SP1002(EE)
2	OT Racing	Georg Gross / Raigo Mõlder	EE	64	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	accident		SP0229(EE)
8,16	Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team)	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	24	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	RALLY2	double puncture,accident	WRC2	ALZR582(D)
3	Toksport WRT	Emilio Fernández / Ruben Garcia	CHL/RA	30	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	radiator	WRC3	AWTS161(D)
8	(TGS Worldwide)	Eerik Pietarinen / Antti Linnaketo	FIN	32	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	suspension arm	WRC3	IZM-38(LV)
17	LOTOS Rally Team (RaceSeven)	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	PL	34	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	accident	WRC3	S4796BCD(E)
13	(Sports Racing Technologies)	Raul Jeets / Andrus Toom	EE	37	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	RC2	RALLY2	accident	WRC3	SP0279(EE)
7	(ALM Motorsport)	Georg Linnamäe / Volodymyr Korsia	EE/UA	45	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	suspension arm	WRC3	SP0540(EE)
15	(Printsport)	Gustav Kruuda / Ken Järveoja	EE	46	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2	radiator	WRC3	SP0507(EE)
3	(Printsport)	Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães	SA/P	51	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	RALLY2		WRC3
3	Tom Kristensson Motorsport	Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg	S	52	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	heavy landing -> crankshaft	JWRC
8,13	Estonian Autosport Junior Team	Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas	EE	54	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	double puncture,halfshaft	JWRC
3		Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar	RO	56	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	radiator	JWRC
4		Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson	S	59	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	accident	JWRC
4	(ACI Team Italia)	Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia	I	61	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4	engine	JWRC
8	(KHMK-Racing)	Mika Karppanen / Anne Heinonen	FIN	67	Citroën DS3 R5	RC2	RALLY2	mechanical
10	OT Racing	Kaspar Kasari / Jakko Viilo	EE	70	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
9		Vladas Jurkevičius / Aisvydas Paliukenas	LT	71	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4
4		Justas Simaška / Titas Simaška	LT	73	Ford Fiesta Rally4	RC4	RALLY4

	STARTERS 59 (6 WRC2, 22 WRC3, 12 JWRC)	FINISHERS 44 (5 WRC2, 18 WRC3, 8 JWRC)			WINNER´S AVER. SPEED			kph
	RALLY LEADERS	SS 1 Lappi & Ogier, 2 Rovanperä, 3-17 Tänak
	WRC2	SS 1 Østberg, 2 Veiby, 3 Østberg, 4-5 Fourmaux, 6-17 Østberg
	WRC3	SS 1 Huttunen, 2-3 Kaur, 4-17 Solberg
	RC2	SS 1 Østberg, 2-3 Kaur, 4-17 Solberg
	JWRC	SS 1 Pajari, 2 Kristensson, 3 Sesks, 4-13 Virves, 14-17 Sesks
	RC4	SS 1 Pajari, 2 Kristensson, 3 Sesks, 4-13 Virves, 14-17 Sesks

	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6	THE ROUTE			SS		DISTANCE, km
	Kalle Rovanperä	5 6 2 1 1 0
	Sébastien Ogier	5 1 1 5 2 3
	Ott Tänak	3 5 6 1 2 0
	Craig Breen	2 3 3 5 4 0
	Elfyn Evans	1 1 5 2 6 0
	Thierry Neuville	1 0 1 2 1 1
	Esapekka Lappi	1 0 0 0 0 1
	Takamoto Katsuta	0 0 0 0 1 7
	Teemu Suninen	0 0 0 0 0 4
	Mads Østberg	0 0 0 0 0 1

	WRC2
	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6
	Mads Østberg	15 1 0 0 0 1
	Nikolay Gryazin	1 8 3 2 2 1
	Ole Christian Veiby	1 2 3 1 1 4
	Adrien Fourmaux	0 6 4 5 1 1
	Pontus Tidemand	0 1 4 6 5 1
	Eyvind Brynildsen	0 0 2 3 8 4

	WRC3
	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6
	Oliver Solberg	9 7 1 0 0 0
	Jari Huttunen	4 1 5 5 0 1
	Egon Kaur	2 5 4 2 0 1
	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	2 2 6 4 2 0
	Eerik Pietarinen	0 1 1 1 4 1
	Karl Kruuda	0 1 1 1 2 2
	Marquito Bulacia	0 0 0 2 3 7
	Grégoire Munster	0 0 0 1 2 1
	Georg Linnamäe	0 0 0 0 3 4
	Gustav Kruuda	0 0 0 0 1 0
	Raul Jeets	0 0 0 0 0 1

	RC2
	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6
	Oliver Solberg	8 4 2 2 1 0
	Mads Østberg	4 5 3 2 2 0
	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	2 1 2 4 3 1
	Jari Huttunen	2 1 2 3 3 4
	Egon Kaur	1 5 2 1 3 0
	Pontus Tidemand	0 1 0 0 1 0
	Nikolay Gryazin	0 0 4 1 1 4
	Ole Christian Veiby	0 0 1 0 0 3
	Adrien Fourmaux	0 0 1 1 2 2
	Karl Kruuda	0 0 0 2 1 1
	Marquito Bulacia	0 0 0 1 0 1
	Eerik Pietarinen	0 0 0 1 0 0
	Georg Linnamäe	0 0 0 0 0 2

	JWRC
	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6
	Sami Pajari	8 1 4 1 2 1
	Mārtiņš Sesks	3 6 7 1 0 0
	Ken Torn	3 1 0 4 0 0
	Robert Virves	2 8 4 1 0 0
	Tom Kristensson	1 1 0 0 0 0
	Ruairi Bell	0 0 1 4 5 4
	Pontus Lönnström	0 0 1 1 0 2
	Fabrizio Zalvidar	0 0 0 4 2 2
	Raul Badiu	0 0 0 2 2 1
	Marco Pollara	0 0 0 1 4 4
	Fabio Andolfi	0 0 0 0 1 0
	Enrico Oldrati	0 0 0 0 0 2

	RC4
	STAGE POSITIONS	1 2 3 4 5 6
	Sami Pajari	8 1 4 1 1 1
	Mārtiņš Sesks	3 6 7 1 0 0
	Ken Torn	3 1 0 3 1 0
	Robert Virves	2 8 4 1 0 0
	Tom Kristensson	1 1 0 0 0 0
	Gregor Jeets	0 0 2 4 5 1
	Ruairi Bell	0 0 0 3 2 5
	Pontus Lönnström	0 0 0 2 0 1
	Raul Badiu	0 0 0 2 1 2
	Fabrizio Zalvidar	0 0 0 2 2 0
	Marco Pollara	0 0 0 0 3 2
	Vladas Jurkevičius	0 0 0 0 0 2
	Kaspar Kasari	0 0 0 0 1 1
	Fabio Andolfi	0 0 0 0 0 1

2020 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR DRIVERS AFTER ROUND 4:

1	Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia	F	Toyota Yaris WRC	79
2	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	GB	Toyota Yaris WRC	70
3	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	EE	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	66
4	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	FIN	Toyota Yaris WRC	55
5	Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul	B	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	42
6	Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN	Ford Fiesta WRC	34
7	Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm	FIN	Ford Fiesta WRC	30
8	Craig Breen / Paul Nagle	IRL	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	25
9	Takamoto Katsuta / Daniel Barrit	J/GB	Toyota Yaris WRC	8
10	Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena	F/MC	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	8
11	Pontus Tidemand / Patrick Barth	S	ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo	8
12	Nikolay Gryazin / Yaroslav Fedorov	RUS	Hyundai i20 R5	6
13	Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson	GB	Ford Fiesta WRC	6
14	Marquito Bulacia / Giovanni Bernacchini	BOL/I	Citroën C3 R5	4
15	Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen	N	Citroën C3 R5	2
16	Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston	S/IRL	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	2
17	Eric Camilli / Francois-Xavier Buresi	F	Citroën C3 R5	2
18	Jari Huttunen / Mikko Lukka	FIN	Hyundai i20 R5	1
19	Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson	N/S	Hyundai i20 R5	1

2020 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MANUFACTURERS AFTER ROUND 4:

1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT	TOYOTA	(Oger,Evans,Rovanperä)	137
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	(Tänak,Neuville,Loeb,Sordo)	132
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	(Lappi,Suninen,Greensmith)	83
4	Hyundai 2C Compétition	Hyundai	(Loubet)	0

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Rally Estonia
Post-event Press Conference
Saturday 6th September

Present:

Ott Tänak (EST), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Martin Järveoja (EST), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Craig Breen (IRL), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Sébastien Ogier (FRA), Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
Andrea Adamo (ITA), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team

Q: Ott, it is your first win of the season. It is a win at home for you and it is your first with Hyundai. I can’t imagine the range of emotions that you must be feeling right now. How are you feeling?
OT: I must say I feel happy to be here. It was actually very demanding. Normally Estonian roads are quite fun to drive but here for the second time, it started to be very demanding. The only thing I can say is that it took a lot of focus to really manage everything on that speed? And still, we had quite many surprises we didn’t expect, so it was tough. The pressure was definitely there. We knew that we have to take the points from this event and we have to win. Obviously we were in Estonia and I should have some kind of an advantage here. Another thing is that we had never won with the Hyundai before. This was also the place where it should have happened. Then we played out nicely, but still, to make it through without issues but at the same time try to be the fastest, it was quite a big job to put this together.

Q: It looked like a big challenge for everyone out there this weekend. It was highly entertaining. How did it feel this time for you, though, because you have won here before, but as you mentioned, the pressure was different then. It wasn’t a WRC event, the points weren’t involved, how much different was the feeling from competing last year?
OT: The level was, first of all, completely different. Everybody was pushing for their maximum performance. That was the first thing. Otherwise, I would say, there was nothing from the previous years. Big parts of the stages were new, the conditions were something we’ve never faced before. So it was a different event.

Q: You had a little bif of a moment on the penultimate stage today. We would say it was a moment, maybe you wouldn’t call it a moment, I don’t know. I would, looking at it. How did you see it previously that Lappi had made a mistake there?
OT: Actually, I knew, yes, and then I went slower in that place and still the road put me a bit to the edge of the road. Let’s say during these two days, I definitely had more impressive surprises or moments than this one. But obviously, this one was in TV, so let’s call it a moment.

Q: You paid tribute to the team at the end of the event. You said you’ve spent a lot of time on your sofa but they have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes. You’ve done the hard work yourself, obviously, this weekend. What do you want to say about the team at this point?
OT: First of all, I must say, the time we had after Mexico, we definitely tried to use every day of it, every minute of it to make the best out of it so that when we come back, we are better than we were before. This high profile event proved that if we were missing something before, here definitely we were up there and performing. I was really happy this weekend, the car was doing what I wanted and the step forward has been impressive in the meantime. Now again we go to different rallies. Rally Estonia was very specific and we start a new challenge.

Q: Not many rallies are remaining this year due to very special circumstances in 2020. It’s going to be a heck of a fight for the title this year.
OT: It’s going to be a sprint to the finish. Hopefully everything will go according to the plan. The life out there is still pretty challenging, so we need to see what is going to happen. Anyway, when it’s our moment to do the job, of course, we try to do our best.

Q: Martin, it is a win at home which must feel pretty special. A huge weekend on the return of the FIA WRC. What are your feelings right now?
MJ: A different kind of adrenaline than in the last six months. It was a good weekend. Like Ott said, it was a quite difficult one. It was good to compete here at home, because we saw lots of spectators. I didn’t see them on the stages but there was lots on the road sections. There was a lot of support.

Q: In terms of doing your job as a co-driver, in, what is now a slightly different working environment, how was that this weekend?
MJ: This time-card thing I think, actually can be the future, even without this COVID-19 situation. But overall, I think there was no big difference.

Q: We’ve seen Rally Estonia in the past years and lots of WRC drivers have come to this event over the years. But to see it as a WRC event and all of your rivals, friends coming here to compete in your home nation, hat did that feel like? Do you feel the rally really delivered this weekend?
MJ: When we had a regroup in Elva, my hometown, it was a really special moment. I was born in this city and now we were standing in the parking there with the WRC car in a WRC event. It was really, really something special, I must say.

Q: Craig, second position, with Hyundai. It’s your first podium with the team and an incredible performance this weekend. I did say in the pre-event press conference you would be one to watch with your experience here in Estonia, but did you imagine the result would be this good?
CB: No, I didn’t. I didn’t imagine it would be so good, to be honest. But honestly, since I did the first runs in the calendar in the pre-event tests, it sort of blew me away a little bit. And I had some inkling inside that, you know, if things were in a good way and I could get into a rhythm quickly, after being in the R5 car for such a long time; if I could switch myself onto the speed, we could be here thereabout. And the whole Saturday morning, it all just seemed to kind of come together and yes, as the weekend progressed, we just got steadily more confident and more comfortable with everything. And to finish on the podium is something fantastic – and such a strong podium! There are seven world championships among all of us here, I own none of them but, it’s an amazing feeling.

Q: (laughing) I’m sure it is. How fast-paced was it and how much of a challenge was it? I mean, we watched and we’re in awe of the speed you guys can get up to on these stages… But it looked like such of a challenge with the mix of the fast stuff, the narrow stuff, the more technical – it seemed to keep changing all the time, keeping you on your toes?
CB: Yes, I have to say that the first passes were, generally speaking, really enjoyable and you could really push flat out. And yesterday, in particular in the morning, it was really nice. And I have to say, yes it was a little bit more tricky on the second pass. Like Ott said: in some places, there were some quite big surprises and the problem here with – you know, the speeds are so high in some places – you’re arriving on the corner at 180-190 kilometers per an hour. If there’s something there, a rock or a hole or something that has appeared in between the two runs, you know, it can really catch you by surprise. That element is a little bit more tricky and it makes it maybe a little bit less enjoyable because you’re always having to anticipate things that are already are out of your control. But still incredibly enjoyable. It’s a privilege just to be able to drive these machines, they’re something quite special.

Q: The confidence, obviously, was building stage by stage, but you came into the final day with a multiple World Champion just behind you. Were you feeling the pressure from Mr. Ogier?
CB: He wasn’t giving me pressure at all, but it was… this one that was giving me pressure (pointing to Andrea Adamo). That was giving me more pressure. I woke up a little bit early this morning, the alarm didn’t wake me up, I was awake before it, and I might have, you know, let on that the pressure wasn’t getting to me. But, you know, at the end of the day, we absolutely had to deliver a result on this day and I knew it was very important both for myself and Paul going forward that we sign and seal. We couldn’t just fall at the last hurdle, so there have been tough moments during the day but luckily enough, we managed to keep the rhythm high enough. And then, on the last stage, for sure, I didn’t take any risks. I would have perhaps liked to manage it a little bit better, not give him so many heart attacks, but it all worked out in the end.

Q: Well, maybe you can turn the tables and put some pressure on him now: when are we going to see him next? (To Andrea Adamo)
AA: It’s not that kind of things that are putting pressure on me.

Q: I’m not sure exactly.. When would you like to be back, Craig, riding again in just a week and a half?
CB: Tomorrow. Straight away. Obviously me and Paul would love to be back in the car whenever we can, but we just have to wait and see. I think we’ve done the best that we can do this weekend. I think anything more than this result was out of our hands or unrealistic. I’m just proud and happy… and, yes, a huge thanks to the team that has worked incredibly hard during months that have been difficult for all sorts of other reasons. They worked their butts off and it absolutely paid off!

Q: Let’s turn now to Sébastien Ogier. You’re continuing to lead the championship after this event. It’s a good bowl of points for you. How are you feeling at the end of Rally Estonia, Seb?
SO: Generally I’m happy but there is a bit of mixed feelings. Being on the podium is always a good thing for the championship. But even if I start to have a little bit of experience in rallies around the world, it was still my first time in Estonia and fighting at this level is always challenging, against guys who have done the rally before. I knew fighting for victory would be a hard job this weekend and very difficult to reach against Ott. The target was to fight for the podium and we are there on the podium. It’s still very good points for the championship. These mixed feelings still come from the fact that, probably the victory would have been difficult to reach but to put more pressure on Ott was definitely possible. And second place was also definitely in our reach. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to make all the things come together in this weekend. We had some little issues yesterday afternoon with tyres. We didn’t play it right with the setup there and there. Yes, I think it’s still good when you come out from not such a good weekend with eventually 17 points, so I’m looking forward already to the next one.

Q: Tommi Mäkinen has said that, when you tested for this event, maybe you tested on too faster roads instead of mixing it up with maybe some slower or technical sections. He said maybe that was the downfall on this weekend. Would you agree?
SO: Well, test it like it is. You never choose the conditions you get and of course, it’s always going to be different during the rally. We were not clever enough this weekend to really see that the rally conditions here were not the same as in the test. And we should have made some earlier changes in the setup. We realized it too late. That’s the way it is. It still happens after many, many years in the sport. It’s not a big drama at the end. We are still there. We massively increased our lead in the championship by one point (he laughs). Let’s see what’s coming in the next one. At least we’ve worked a lot also recently to improve the car and I’m very confident. We’ve made some good steps on the rough conditions, so I look forward to seeing over time if it’s enough or not. You can never say but it’s going forward. Everything is pushing hard, they’ve been improving a lot in those conditions. But let’s see in two weeks if we have been able to do the same.

Q: That one point could be very important at the end of the season, Seb!
SO: Every point is important. Obviously I would have loved more. The Power Stage was the roughest stage of the weekend. I’ve done all my career with these conditions and not so often I’m able to really go for it when It’s like this. There’s always a bit of a change that you need to survive this roughness. It’s good to see that the car was able to be very fast in this conditions. Kalle did an amazing time. There is some positive out of this weekend.

Q: Now turning to Andrea Adamo: congratulations on the 1-2 this weekend. Before we talk about the positive performances, can we just talk about Thierry Neuville on the Power Stage. We were expecting to see a charge after he’s done such a good job of conserving everything for the whole day. But it didn’t come… What exactly was wrong?
AA: What exactly, we still don’t know. Let me say someone will have to explain at home.

Q: Do we have any idea at all?
AA: Yes I have.

Q: Do you want to share that with us?
AA: Not this time.

Q: OK, let’s talk about the positives as it’s a great result for Ott, Martin, Craig and Paul, of course. What do you think about their performances on this weekend?
AA: Whatever I say would be a bit… what can I say? They for sure did well. I think that also Thierry was doing very well and I have to say, that in my opinion it showed what good crews we have. Back from the first day when I started to work in the position I have now, every journalist – I don’t know if it was a sort of lobby or agreement – was asking me why Hyundai is not fast in Finland. Some of them were also questioning the drivers and it was something that was upsetting me quite a lot because I knew that they are working hard, they are fighting hard and I knew that their limit was the car. I think that yesterday midday, it was a good thing to show to everyone who ever doubted that the drivers, the crews are very competitive, Thierry as well because he was fast and it was just a small mistake. When they are running with this speed, maybe just a few centimeters can change your life. It’s called motor sport on the other hand. Of course I’m happy by the performance of the crews and this has showed what amazing job my team has done in these months. We were together in Mexico, we know how fast the decision was done to come back because it was unclear what was the situation in Europe.

We came back in a rush and all of the sudden I had to understand how to manage 254 people coming from different countries with families, not everyone being in Germany. People were asking me what to do so I had to decide basically on the spot to tell them to go home, to manage their things, how to understand to take care of everyone, to tell them what to do. We had to guarantee the job to everyone. Let me say… March has been quite a tricky month. I just tried to be nice and calm and tried to manage the situation.
I took responsibility as in my role I have to have. Also deciding then after to start work in so-called home-office. Of course all mechanics doing home-office is a bit tricky to explain. But we kept everyone paid. I have to say, Hyundai, thank you! I’m proud to work for Hyundai because everyone has been paid 100%, or being given support. With HR, that is how we managed all the ways to do it. They started to work in different ways. Of course, it’s a new way to work. They have done an amazing job, honestly. Then we decided to go ahead. We took responsibility; that is my role to take. Of course, one question came from Korea, if it is really needed and necessary to spend money to go ahead, but I always say: yes, no problem at all. Be sure that everything is going on. The number of sleepless nights are known only by my pillow. But that’s part of the job. To see all of my people down there waving the flag has been emotional for me.

Q: I’m sure it has. Nicely put, Andrea. Thank you, see you in Turkey and hopefully see you soon, Craig!
AA: I think it’s more important to see him next year than in Turkey!

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR

L’Equipe, Jérôme Bourret (FRA), to Sébastien Ogier:

Q: The Yaris has never been so dominant neither in Turkey nor in Sardegna. Is it a worry for you?
SO: Honestly, these are not the kind of things that make me worry anymore. At this point in my career you would need a lot to really worry about anything, to be honest. But honestly I’m really happy with the test we’ve done last week in Greece. I think our engineers also used this break with some good job, and came on the test with very good ideas. We could confirm it in the test. It’s already exciting to see that the things are going forward. Of course, opening the road in Greece will be challenging once again. But on this rally, a lot of things can happen. Speed will be important, being clever… even more.

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Mads Østberg (NOR), PH Sport

Q: Mads, you and Martin, you were both here at the pre-event FIA Press Conference. Now you are here at the end. Rally Estonia, done and dusted, and complete the win in FIA WRC2 for you, Mads, how are you feeling at the end of the weekend?
MO: Yes, it feels very good to be at the end now, to be honest. Yesterday it felt like a full rally in its own, when we were at the last stage. I couldn’t even remember the first stage of the day, so it was a long day yesterday, but today as well, to be honest, was a little bit longer than we are used to for a Sunday. But I’m so glad to be at the end without any real big issues. We had a puncture on the first day which was obviously a big time loss for us, around half a minute, but other than that, some small issues. But we have been able to manage it all through the weekend and stayed really focused, of course, on our championship, which is looking really good now. So, yes, I think we have enjoyed to be here. I think the biggest pressure was coming by phone from France but the gang here in Estonia, we have had a good time.

Q: Well, it certainly looked as if you did out on the stages, plus you said, it was a very long day yesterday, but a good day considering we’ve been out of WRC action for six months. We needed all of that, I think. In terms of the challenge the rally gave to you, Mads, I know you’ve been here twice before, you’ve won it outright twice before. Different from back then, more of a challenge now?

MO: Yes, for sure, I mean, it’s definitely a rally where experience really counts, much more than any other rally in the world, I think, because here there is so many “maybe” things on this event, is this jump flat or this crest flat and this corner this and that. And some narrow sections, some of them are getting really bad and rapid and others aren’t, so I would love the event to be similar to 2012, but it wasn’t. But it was still a very nice event, but I think all of my previous experience from this rally didn’t help me at all. I remember one jump from back then and that’s all. So, to be honest, we had to learn and discover everything again and for sure, it was a little bit different than we expected. I think our testing was done on completely different surface and we didn’t have the experience to know that it would be like this, so some mistakes was done for sure but overall I think we should be happy, we made adjustments through the event to adapt to the difficult conditions. I think we did mostly good choices through the rally.

Q: There’s been development work happening on the car, and you talked in the pre-event press conference, in difficult times that we’re living in now, development is still ongoing, it’s slightly different maybe than it used to be. Are you feeling that the car is getting better in certain areas?
MO: Yes, for sure, we have made steps and I think just looking back two weeks to the ERC event, we were not as fast as we were on this rally. So, for sure, we have made steps already and we know that we have new steps coming with the car and unfortunately they are not ready for this weekend and they probably won’t be for the next couple of rallies either. But for sure, it’s nice to know that we are already quite on the pace where we want to be. And we still have some big things coming for the car, so that’s always positive.

FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Oliver Solberg (SWE)

Q: Winner of FIA WRC3, winner outright in category of Rally2 cars, into the WRC points as well, what a weekend you have had here in Estonia, Oliver. We saw you compete here last year with great success and you have got onto to even better now this time. How are you feeling?
OS: It is fantastic! It has been just an incredible weekend. Everything has been very good. Yesterday after service stop, it was long loops and it was tough for the car, I had punctures at the same stage twice. I didn’t like that stage at all but it was enjoyable anyway. I lost some time but that’s how it is and luckily, I took time on the other stages to be able to hold the lead. It was incredible. The roads are amazing. I really liked the twisty sections, it was something new compared to what we are usually used to. It’s nice to have something new all the time. It was very rough but still quite enjoyable when you have to save the car. It was challenging but I love when it’s challenging, so it has been a very good weekend.

Q: We did see an incredible pace from you. Were you absolutely on your limit everywhere or did you back off today when you knew you had a bigger gap?
OS: Of course you have to be clever and it’s puncture risk and very rough, you have to be smart where you have to push or not. But when you drive against a driver like Mads, it’s always pushing everywhere and all the time. He has so much experience of driving and he knows where to push and not. It’s difficult, especially yesterday when it was quite close in the beginning, it’s hard to know if he is going to push flat out or not. You have to always read the times a bit early and it’s like, ah, he’s been pushing or oh, he’s not been pushing! It’s quite funny!

MO: I didn’t know you put so much energy into that, because for me it’s just driving!

OS: He is pushing everywhere. It’s good. You always have to be in your top game. It was a difficult weekend managing because I always love to push flat out all the time. But this time, I had to be smart and back off where I needed to. It worked out and it’s a nice experience for me.

Q: Here we’ve seen this very quick upward trajectory from you in terms of performance. You’re achieving so much success immediately. Sometimes it takes drivers a few years to get that success that you’ve already had in your career so early on. Oliver, I have to ask you, where are you seeing yourself next year already?
OS: It’s hard to say. I have only won one rally so far. I still have to work a lot. Every rally is so different and I need to get experience from every rally. In Mexico, I retired already in the first stage with a broken sump. That’s what I love, I’m always learning something new every day. It’s all about the experience. Next year, I’m not really sure what will happen, I’ll drive probably R5 again and just learn as much as possible again every race. Now I have the pace-notes from Mexico. Always coming to new places all the time and then I will have experience for the next year. Then you have a new set of pace-notes and you know a little bit more what you’re doing. It’s all about the experience and gaining speed all the time.

FIA JUNIOR WRC CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Martins Sesks (LVA)

Q: Martin, the Junior WRC winner in Estonia. How are you feeling at the end of the event because we’ve seen some great battles in JWRC this weekend?
MS: This weekend was quite an incredible job for everyone. The stages were really, really rough, and also the guys in R5 (Rally2) said it was rough, so I imagine how it is with the front-wheel drive cars. You needed to be very tactical all the time to see where you need to drive faster and where you need to save your car and make it to the finish. Lots of fast guys overpushed in some places on the first day, so they retired immediately. Afterwards I was seeing that it’s now time to play the tactical game.

Q: We saw when you were here on Thursday for the pre-event FIA Press Conference, the rivalry between you and the Estonian driver Ken Torn. We were keen to see how you would against each other this weekend. You mentioned tactical driving, clever driving out there. But when you look at your performance in terms of the pace that you delivered, are you happy with that?
MS: For sure, I’m really happy. We started on the safe side yesterday and then started to gain the speed. Ken started flat out starting from the first stage. He was really fast, I would say he was even faster. It was also the rally of experience. He has it here and he really knew where to jump and where not to jump, and where it would be rough, and where not.

Q: Must be very satisfying, though, to take the overall win in the Junior category, yes?
MS: For sure, the first time is the first time. It’s really an incredible feeling now!

Team Reviews

Six months since we last contested a round of the WRC, all the way back in March at Rally Mexico, we were back in business at Rally Estonia – and also back to winning ways with a fantastic 1-2 result.

Estonians Ott and Martin, taking part in their fourth event for our team – and their home event – earned their first victory in the i20 Coupe WRC. It was a masterful performance as they handled the pressure with composure.

“The first WRC event in Estonia was one that I had to win, while also knowing it would be my first with Hyundai Motorsport,” said Ott. “I couldn’t afford any mistakes, taking no risks but also performing with the required pace to win; bringing all of that together was a real challenge.”

The result marked the crew’s third consecutive podium, after second places in Sweden and Mexico, and lifted Ott up to third in the drivers’ table. “We had to use this chance to catch back points for the championship, and thankfully we were able to use it well,” he said.

Irish crew Craig and Paul finished in second to score their debut podium for our team, and that special 1-2 feeling. As a result, we have moved to within five points of the manufacturers’ lead.

“What an incredible weekend,” said Craig. “From the opening kilometres of the rally, everything just clicked. The car has done absolutely everything I’ve asked of it and has given me the confidence I needed.”

Prang in stage

Sadly, it was a weekend to forget for Thierry and Nicolas, who were forced to stop on Saturday after being pushed offline in the Prangli stage. They then experienced a mechanical issue in the Kambja Power Stage, which forced them to retire on the road section.

“It has definitely not been our weekend,” said a dejected Thierry. “Our target today was to salvage some points from the Power Stage, but we had an issue ahead of the start, which meant we couldn’t drive at speed. Disappointing but the next one will be better.”

Emotionally charged 1-2

Rally Estonia’s intense and challenging itinerary saw 17 stages run primarily across two days. All three of our crews took stage wins on Saturday (three for Ott/Martin, two for Craig/Paul and one for Thierry/Nicolas), it was a more cautious and measured final day, but one with a great result of our team.

Our Team Principal Andrea reflected on an emotional result: “After Mexico, we all faced a difficult period. Six months later, to be here in Estonia celebrating a 1-2 result, is an incredible feeling. I know how much I have pushed my people, while trying to remain calm in the face of the uncertain situation. I am proud of them all, and happy we can share this result.”

The 2020 WRC season continues its revised schedule with the gruelling gravel roads of Rally Turkey from September 18-20, the fifth event of the season.

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team had a fantastic final day on Rally Estonia with a podium finish for Sébastien Ogier, a Power Stage win for Kalle Rovanperä and six out of six stage wins for the Toyota Yaris WRC. Ogier has increased his drivers’ championship lead while Toyota remains out front in the manfuacturers’ standings.

Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia scored two stage wins on the final day as they secured third overall, finishing just 4.7 seconds from second place. With fourth in the rally-ending Power Stage, Ogier is now nine points in front of team-mate Elfyn Evans in the standings. Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin won Sunday’s opening stage on their way to finishing fourth overall and took second in the Power Stage.

Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen won three of Sunday’s stages and five in total over the weekend. In his fourth start at rallying’s top level, Rovanperä showed that he had the speed to fight for victory. He led a WRC round for the first time on Saturday morning before losing around 30 seconds to a tyre issue and one minute to a time penalty for an infringement in a time control. He finished only 1m18.7s behind the winner after he topped the Power Stage for the second time this season.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta began the day in fifth overall after his best performance so far at rallying’s top level, but crashed out on Sunday’s second stage.

Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)
“The result at the end of Rally Estonia is very good for the whole team and keeps us at the top of both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. We’re not totally satisfied with our performance. Our setup was not ideal for the conditions that we faced which were different to our testing. Today when we had faster conditions we saw that all of our drivers could set the quickest times. Kalle’s speed is especially impressive for such a young driver. He seems to find his best performance when under big pressure like he did here in the Power Stage. We can only wonder what could have happened without the tyre issue yesterday, because I’m sure he could have had a much better overall result.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“It’s a positive result for us. To finish on the podium is good for the championship. For sure there is a bit of frustration for us as we know that we could have done better this weekend, there was some potential that we didn’t manage to exploit. To win here would have been difficult but we had the ability to be much closer or at least in second place. I also would have liked to get more from the Power Stage but it was the roughest stage of the weekend and when I feel it’s too risky to go for it, I don’t dare and prefer to secure the podium. Still it’s nice to score some good points in a difficult weekend.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“I’m not fully satisfied at the end of the rally but we come away with fourth overall and second place in the Power Stage. There was obviously good pace there at points but I was just unable to deliver it consistently. We made some changes overnight and in the slippery conditions this morning it seemed to be a bit better. Then I struggled when it got quite rough, but it seems to always be a compromise here. Like always there’s some things we can work on but at the end of the day we’re here after a difficult weekend with a decent haul of points.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“I’m really happy. My weekend was really good in terms of the pace and the driving. I think I did everything I could and I didn’t make any mistakes, even when driving on this very fast pace. We had some bad luck and it was just not our weekend but that’s rallying sometimes. The Power Stage was quite nice, I had a big push there but it was still a clean run so I’m happy. A big thanks to the team because the car was great to drive.”

What’s next?
Rally Turkey (September 18-20) will run for the third time since it returned to the WRC in 2018 in a new location around Marmaris on the Mediterranean coast. Rocky gravel roads and high temperatures make this a gruelling event.

Manufacturers: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (GB) / Ford Fiesta WRC (Michelin)
4 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (FIN)
3 Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)
44 Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (GB)

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Teemu Suninen, Esapekka Lappi and Gus Greensmith persevered to bring their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRCs home line astern at this weekend’s Rally Estonia – in sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively.

Signalling the championship’s return to action, the team got off to the perfect start as Lappi took an early lead through the opening speed test. But as the action turned to fast country lanes outside the host city of Tartu, the going got tough.

Lacking confidence in the fast sections, Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm focused on delivering a clean run through the closing stages – only to be caught out in the ruts. Forced into a spin on the second pass of Kaagvere (SS16), 10 seconds were lost along with a position to team mate Suninen.

Having not driven the top-specification Fiesta on fast gravel for more than a year, it took some time for Suninen to find his rhythm – but he and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen looked much more comfortable in today’s slippery conditions.

Closing the gap to the leaders, and reigning in team mate Lappi, the young Finn secured sixth place – a creditable position considering the lack of seat-time when compared to his more seasoned rivals.

Contesting Rally Estonia for the first time this weekend, Greensmith and co-driver Elliott Edmondson had much to learn, but the Brits held their own and delivered some notable progress throughout the event.

Starting the rally a second a kilometre away from his team mates, the youngster was soon up to speed and within two tenths of his fellow Fiesta drivers – proving his ability to learn with experience.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“We knew that it would be difficult to challenge for the top results. We didn’t have the luxury of doing the same level of testing as our rivals and when you’re not in the fight it just becomes that much harder. I know all three drivers enjoyed being back behind the wheel, and I’m confident that we will come back stronger on the next events.

“Finally, on behalf of the whole team, I have to credit the organisers who have delivered an incredible rally here this weekend. If you look at what they’ve managed to achieve in such a short space of time it’s extremely impressive – especially given the current circumstances. They’ve certainly proved themselves worthy of a spot on the calendar, and the only downside was that we couldn’t fully share it with the fans.”

Teemu Suninen (6th) said:

“It’s been a really difficult weekend for us. It took a while to get back in the rhythm, but it was good to be back after such a long time away. We were trying our best and today the times were a bit better, but we know that there is still some work to do. Now I’m looking forward to Turkey and Sardinia. We were strong at both those rallies last year, and I hope it will be the same again this year.”

Esapekka Lappi (7th) said:

“Firstly I have to say that the organisers have done a fantastic job this weekend. Everything worked smoothly with no problems and it really was an amazing job from everyone involved. It was good to be back in the rally car and to show some pace in the beginning, but after that it became a really challenging weekend for us. There is a lot of work to do on these type of stages, but hopefully in Turkey and Sardinia we can be stronger.”

Gus Greensmith (8th) said:

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy weekend as we didn’t have the same experience or preparation as some of the other guys. But we were able to make some improvements throughout the weekend and the times got better the more kilometres we did. Also a big thanks to everyone at M‑Sport. They’ve been working really hard, and it was a big effort from everyone here and back in Cumbria.”

WRC2: PH Sport (Citroën Racing) (F) / Citroën C3 R5 (Michelin)
21 Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (N)

WRC3: Tagai Racing Technology (H) / Citroën C3 R5 (Pirelli)
28 Marquito Bulacia / Marcelo Der Ohannesian (BOL/RA)

Showing impeccable reliability and competitiveness once again, the C3 R5 took the honours in the WRC2 class this weekend at Rally Estonia, its third win this season driven by Mads Østberg.

The #C3R5Family was in action on all fronts this weekend: there were some twenty-two C3 R5s competing in events throughout Europe, including five in Estonia at the resumption of the WRC and nine at the return of the French Rally championship in Morzine. This latter figure meant that Citroën was the manufacturer with the largest number of entries in the category on the slopes of Mont-Blanc, where no fewer than thirty R5s were competing.

Having already won twice this season in the WRC2 (Monte-Carlo and Sweden) with Mads Østberg, the C3 R5 added a third victory to its collection – still with the Norwegian – at Rally Estonia on its first appearance on the world rally championship calendar. This was not Mads’ debut here, however. He had competed at the rally before (overall winner of the event in 2011 and 2012) and used all of his experience and talent to take the early lead on the ultra-fast stages. Only a puncture (SS4) slowed his progress temporarily, but he reclaimed the lead on SS6. He went on to dominate the rest of the rally, leading to the finish and winning an incredible fifteen of the seventeen stages. This third win in as many outings for the formidable team he has formed with the C3 R5 helped to strengthen their hold on the WRC2 championship.

Meanwhile, despite their inexperience on these unusual roads and up against some competition from local drivers in the WRC3, Marco Bulacia, Nicolas Ciamin, Sean Johnston and Yohan Rossel nonetheless produced intelligent performances in the four other C3 R5s competing in Estonia. They gradually got to grips with the stages, finishing fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth in a category that featured twenty-two starters.

WHAT THEY SAID…

Mads Østberg, winner of the WRC2 in Estonia with the C3 R5

“Torstein and I were both very pleased to be back competing in the WRC this weekend in the C3 R5 after this long break. I hadn’t raced here for eight years, and the itinerary of the rally was more technical, not quite as fast and with more jumps than I remembered, but there was the same atmosphere! Our in-competition test at Rally Liepaja in Latvia helped us to prepare for the fast roads in Estonia and we also used the event to keep working on the development of the car. All of that meant we had a very fast C3 R5 this weekend and were able to win the WRC2 class. We have therefore extended our lead in the standings ahead of the rest of the season.”

Marco Bulacia, fourth in the WRC3 with the C3 R5

“It was a super feeling to be back behind the wheel of a real C3 R5, after long months spent competing in virtual races. I’m pleased with my rally insofar as everything was completely new for me. I had never competed in such a fast event. I think it was probably even faster than Rally Finland. We needed time to adapt, both in terms of the pace notes and my driving. We are now second in the WRC3 and are going to keep fighting to maintain our position, or perhaps even move up the standings.”

WRC2: Hyundai Motorsport N (RedGrey Team) (D/EE) / Hyundai i20 R5 (Michelin)
22 Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov (RUS)
24 Ole Christian Veiby / Jonas Andersson (N/S)

The return of WRC for the first time since Mexico allowed our two WRC 2 drivers Ole Christian Veiby and Nikolay Gryazin to get back to action in their i20 R5 ’20. From a fast start, it would ultimately be a disappointing result for the crews.

Both crews had been encouraged by the performance potential of their i20 R5 ’20 in the short Abissaare shakedown stage on Friday, as they re-acquainted themselves with the high-speed, gravel Estonian roads.

Ole Christian was quick out of the blocks on Saturday morning, setting the fastest WRC 2 time in the opening Prangli test (20.23km) but he was to hit trouble for the rest of the day.

Picking up driveshaft damage on the subsequent stage (SS3 – Kanepi – 16.89km), he struggled for pace for the remainder of the morning loop – battling through Otepää (9.6km), Mäeküla (14.76km) and Elva (11.72km).

With the issue fixed during midday service, the crew resumed their attack but a double puncture on the repeat of Kanepi, with no spare tyres, forced an early retirement for the day.

Nikolay, meanwhile, set the WRC 2 pace in SS4 as he mounted a fight for the top-two, assessing different settings. He ended Saturday in second place with six stages to run on Sunday, a repeated loop of three stages – Arula (6.97km), Kaagvere (15.46km) and Kambja (20.05km).

Sunday setbacks

A frustrating final day saw both crews caught out by the rough gravel conditions. Ole Christian suffered a roll in the penultimate stage, while Nikolay’s efforts to secure second place were ruined by a puncture in the Power Stage.

Ole Christian said: “It has been a really tricky weekend. I had a good start but after that we got an issue with the driveshaft, so we struggled. On the second loop, we got two punctures and were forced to retire. Sunday was just about cruising through, but I cut a bit too much on one of the corners, which made the car go up on two wheels and, sadly, we rolled a few times. We look forward to the next one.”

Nikolay reflected on his puncture: “I was trying to make everything clean but at the beginning, in the first corners, a sharp stone caused a front left puncture. I am sorry to the team, but these things can happen in rallying. Aside from that, it was a fun and enjoyable weekend, great to experience the jumps in the i20 R5 – an incredible feeling.”

Our Team Principal Andrea concluded: “It has been a rally of ups and downs for the two crews – but mainly downs – so we cannot go home happy.”

WRC2: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team / Ford Fiesta Rally2 (Michelin)
25 Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul (F/B)

In the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support series, Adrien Fourmaux delivered an impressive performance to bring his EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta Rally2 home on the second step of the podium.

Also showcasing his skills as a quick learner, Fourmaux’s result was made all the more impressive when considering this is only his fifth gravel event with a four-wheel-drive Fiesta – two of which were based at the team’s testing facility in Greystoke forest.

Going up against strong competition – including two-time Rally Estonia winner and this year’s WRC 2 category winner Mads Østberg – the young Frenchman impressed with a string of highly competitive and consistent times.

Leading the rally in the early stages he and co-driver Renaud Jamoul showcased the winning-pace and performance of the Ford Fiesta Rally2, before picking up a puncture on the first pass of Elva (SS6) and fighting their way back up to the runner-up spot.

Team Principal, Richard Millener, said:

“I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve this weekend, which was to get back rallying and get back into the rhythm. Adrien also delivered a really impressive drive with the Ford Fiesta Rally2, and it was great to see him secure another thoroughly-deserved podium in the WRC 2 category.

“When you consider how little experience he has on gravel, it makes his performance all the more impressive – especially when you look at some of the big names he was going up against. Leading the rally through the early stages, he showcased the performance of the car and proved he’s a real talent for the future.

Adrien Fourmaux (2nd, WRC 2) said:

“I’m really happy with our weekend and this result is honestly better than we expected. This was only my fifth gravel rally with this car, and there were a lot of really fast and experienced guys here this weekend.

“These type of stages are so different to what I’ve experienced back in France and in the UK, so to adapt as quickly as we did and be fighting with these experienced guys was really great.

“The car was also perfect all weekend so a big thanks to the team who did an amazing job. The whole weekend was really great.”

Junior WRC

Martins Sesks becomes the first ever Latvian to win a FIA Junior WRC rally following a dramatic event on Estonia’s inaugural WRC event.

Sami Pajari was able to claim a well-earned second place after running into difficulty early on in the rally.

Robert Virves, the crowdfunded local hero, finished third after leading for much of the rally until a puncture dropped him out of contention in the closing stages of Sunday.

Friday evening’s opening short blast was won by Sami Pajari with a clear second over Tom Kristensson. The Swede struck back the following morning taking the first stage win of the day, his rally ended on the next stage with a crankshaft failure following a heavy landing.

The story of Saturday was the crowdfunded hometown hero, Robert Virves, consistently posting top-three stage times from stage four until stage 14.

Romanian Raul Badiu would join Kristensson in retiring for the day in the first loop, damaging his radiator on stage three punting a hay bale across the stage. Pontus Lonnstrom’s early stage times indicated he would be in contention for a podium however his day was cut short, stopping in stage four due after a technical issue. Italian driver, Fabio Andolfi, also retired after stage three.

Ken Torn established himself as a contender for victory, closing down on Virves’ lead on Saturday with a hat-trick of stage wins following a puncture in the opening loop. Torn’s luck would run out on stage eight, after two punctures while only carrying one spare, forcing him to retire for the day. He returned to action on Sunday morning which was short-lived after mechanical problem on stage 13.

The drama continued in Junior WRC on Sunday following an action packed day on Saturday.

Home favourite Robert Virves headed into the closing day with an 11-second lead over Martins Sesks with Finnish youngster Sami Pajari trailing by 27 seconds in third. Virves would ultimately relinquish his lead following a puncture on stage 14, losing 45 seconds in the process of being relegated to third. The Estonian would not give up, collecting his maiden Junior WRC stage win point on the penultimate stage to hold third by the end of the rally.

Sami Pajari collected the most stage wins of any Junior WRC driver on Rally Estonia, totalling eight stage wins by the conclusion of the rally and more importantly, seven valuable championship points. Pajari now sits second in the championship with 39 points.

Following a run of successful preparation events Martins Sesks was on form throughout Rally Estonia, not putting a foot wrong, running no lower than third for the duration of the rally. Applying the pressure on Virves all Saturday and Sunday, and following the Estonian’s puncture, Sesks inherited the lead with three speed tests to run.

He becomes the first ever Latvian driver to take a Junior WRC rally win and with it has picked up the championship lead with 47 points.

Elsewhere in Junior WRC, Briton Ruairi Bell claimed his best finish so far with a well-earned fourth position after delivering a faultless drive with consistent stage times.

Teenager Fabrizio Zaldivar was set to match his best ever finish with a fifth place after a respectable drive throughout the rally. The Paraguayan’s hard work would come undone on the penultimate stage, losing his brakes and dropping to sixth. He would enter the Wolf Power Stage without brakes in an effort to finish the rally and collect valuable championship points.

Italian Marco Pollara who, like Zaldivar, kept his head down and avoided trouble eventually took fifth position, his best finish in FIA Junior WRC.

Maciej Woda, Junior WRC Team Director: “Rally Estonia has been epic and a fantastic return to rallying! We all owe so much thanks to the organisers of Rally Estonia, FIA and WRC Promoter for providing a smooth and safe way for us finally get back rallying, I cannot wait to see what Sardinia brings for us. Massive congratulations to Martins taking the victory, it’s great to see a Baltic driver doing so well and Latvia finally having a FIA Junior WRC winner. Robert gave a hard fight throughout the entire rally and should be very proud of what he has achieved for his first ever WRC event, it was an incredible performance and he has done Estonia proud. Sami Pajari is proving what so many people have said in terms of how talented he is after taking the most stage wins on this rally. I would also like to say a special well done to Ruairi Bell who faced exceptional circumstances heading into this rally so to finish fourth is a really good job.”

1. Martins Sesks / Renars Francis 2:21:20.5
“This weekend was quite an incredible rally for everyone because the stages were really, really rough. Even the guys in R5s were saying it is rough so imagine how rough it is in the Rally4 car. You had to be really technical all the time to see where you could drive fast and where you needed to take it easy to save your car and make it to the finish. I am really happy, we started on the safe side yesterday and started to gain speed and everything. We had a good battle with Ken who was flat out from the first stage. He was really fast I would say he was even faster than me as it was a rally of experience and he has it here. Overall I still can’t put it into words the feeling I have right now, but all the hard work I have put in, and after the struggles of last year, it is finally paying off for me.”

2. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen +14.7
“We had the most stage wins, second place is not too bad and at the moment I am feeling like ‘oh damn it was just 15 seconds’, but overall I need to be really happy.”

3. Robert Virves / Sander Pruul +37.8
“Not the result we were hoping for but that’s rally and there’s nothing we can do. I have to be happy but it isn’t a win.”

4. Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards +5:12.7
“It’s been a fantastic weekend with only four or five notice before today, Matt jumped in the car, being here now with fourth place in the juniors is fantastic and I am more than happy. Sadly I lost a bit of time but didn’t lose a position so I can’t complain.”

5. Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina +7:03.9
“I am very happy for this result, the stages were fantastic and very beautiful. I am in love with these special stages, I hope to return here next year but until then, see you in Sardinia.”

6. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano +9:29.8
“It was quite a tough rally for us, from the beginning we knew it would be difficult but still we made it to the end which is a good thing. We still need to work more on the pacenotes over the kilometres, today we had some brake problems so that’s why we lost fifth place but it was quite nice to finish the rally.”

7. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio +10:44.7
“I’m not really happy but we got a lot of experience and that’s the most important thing. Ok now, we look forward to Rally Sardinia, which is my home rally and we will see how we go there.”

8. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar +1:24:46.0
“I am disappointed, the result isn’t what we were wanting and the worst part is that on these lovely stages we would have liked to go and really take the experience and learn but we had very few kilometres without problems. The good side is that we finally started back rallying after these really difficult times.”

RETIRED:
Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas
Pontus Lonnstrom / Stefan Gustavsson
Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg
Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia

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WRC 2020, Round 4/7 – Rally Estonia (September 4/6)

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