The Estonian round of the World Rally Championship is only the first of two, where gravel will be the protagonist. Indeed, with this one and the one in Finland at the beginning of August, drivers and teams are preparing for two adrenaline-packed weeks.
Team GR Toyota Gazoo Racing came to Estonia after placing four cars in the top four positions in Kenya. In the African round Ogier and Landais triumphed ahead of Rovampera and Halttunen, who finished second, and Evans and Martin who rounded out the podium. Completing the four out of four was Katsuta and Johnson who finished fourth.
In the Baltic country, on the other hand, it was Kalle Rovampera who was the great protagonist, bringing home his third win in a row in the Estonian Rally, demonstrating a special feeling for the track. Once again the 2022 World Champion and his co-driver dominated the stage without too many rivals, winning with a lead of over 52 seconds over the pursuers. The Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID #69 won all stages on Saturday and Sunday. An escalation that began on Friday in special stage #6 and led them to win 16 stages in a row. Little to do for his rivals, who had to surrender to the speed of the Finn, who seemed to fly through the jumps and curves of Estonia.
His teammates tried to keep up the pace but little by little as the days went by and Rovampera's pace increased, the other two crews slowly fell behind. For the #33 car, the week had started well with the shakedown on Thursday that saw Evans and Martin leading the way. From Friday onwards, as the special stages progressed, the British duo accumulated seconds from the top, falling back in the standings. In the end they finished in fourth position more than a minute behind their team-mate, but not too far from the podium.
Katsuta and Johnson faced a difficult round, in which they were unable to find the right balance and feeling on the Estonian track. The pair in the #18 car finished seventh in the standings, more than three minutes behind Rovampera.
Their sights are now set on Finland at the home of Kalle, who arrives there with an impressive 55-point lead in the world championship standings over Evans, who in turn holds second position with just three points on Neville and the Hyundai.