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Paris, Thursday

From the heat, dust and rocks of the Safari Rally in Kenya, the World Rally Championship changes cadence as it heads north on Thursday to the fast and furious roads of Estonia. 

Seven-time world champion Sebastien Ogier heads the standings in his Toyota going into the seventh rally of the 12-race season. 

The Frenchman, who is retiring at the end of the season, has won four of the previous six rallies this campaign but is wary about an Estonia rally which is made up of 24 high-speed special stages covering 324.16km.

“Rally Estonia is a challenging one to win, especially running first on the road, but I will do my best to keep scoring big points,” said Ogier. 

“It’s always a difficult challenge to be on the limit on such fast roads that we have in the north of Europe, but I think it’s a challenge that every single driver enjoys.”

Ogier is 34 points ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans who won in Portugal but crashed out early in the last rally in Kenya.  

The other man to win a rally this season is Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, the 2019 world champion, who is hoping to add his home race in Estonia to the Finland Rally he took back in February. 

He has won four times on his own roads, in 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020, when the event joined the WRC calendar, but his chances look slim. 

The Hyundai cars are often faster than the Toyotas but they lack reliability. 

Suspension problems while Tanak or his teammate Thierry Neuville were leading deprived Hyundais of potential victories in the last three rallies. 

“We have spent the short period since Safari Rally Kenya reviewing the issues we encountered in recent events,” said Hyundai team principal Andrea Adamo.

“There is only so much we can do in this time frame but we head to Estonia with our motivation levels high, and a determination to show what we can achieve.”

While Tanak will be the favourite with home supporters, there will be plenty of encouragement also for Toyota’s young Finn Kalle Rovanpera 

“I have always liked fast rallies like in Estonia,” said the 20-year-old. 

“I have driven a lot in the Baltic countries and they offer the same type of roads, fast and smooth, as in Finland. It suits me very well.”

Rovanpera had a good race last year, running fifth until picking up a puncture. He was second at the Arctic Rally in Finland and will start sixth this time as he goes in search of his first WRC win. 

“I think Kalle has a good chance,” said team principal Jari-Matti Latvala. 

“He has a good position in the starting order and he has already shown, especially in Estonia last year, and at the Arctic Rally earlier this season, that he could shine in these kinds of events.”

The Estonia Rally begins opens with a stage in Tartu on Thursday followed by three days of rallying, finishing in Tila on Sunday evening.