Secto Rally Finland Preview WRC1

The 2023 WRC season continues this weekend with the 9th of 13 rounds, Secto Rally Finland. 

Drivers’ Championship Preview

Kalle Rovanperä will once again lead the Drivers’ championship standings into Secto Rally Finland much like he did last season. Last season Rovanperä came into his home event with an 83-point lead over Thierry Neuville. This time round Rovanperä leads Elfyn Evans by 55 points. Rovanperä is inching closer and closer to his second WRC championship every rally. As nobody has seemed to be able to match Rovanperä’s pace regularly. Rovanperä’s teammate Elfyn Evans sits second in the championship, as previously mentioned. Thierry Neuville moved into third in the championship after placing second at Rally Estonia last month. Neuville sits just 3 points behind Evans. 2022 Rally Finland winner Ott Tänak sits fourth in the championship, the same spot he sat last season. Tänak sits 8 points behind his former teammate Thierry Neuville. Sebastien Ogier managed to maintain a top 5 spot after Rally Estonia, now sitting 6 points behind Tänak. Ogier won’t be competing at Secto Rally Finland this weekend, however.

Championship Hopes On The Line

A couple of drivers’ championship hopes will be on the line, from a realistic standpoint at least. As after Secto Rally Finland, drivers will only have the opportunity to score 120 points. This puts a bit of pressure on drivers who want to stay in the championship hunt to finish ahead of Rovanperä. Luckily for them, Rovanperä hasn’t done great in Finland and has never won the event. Rovanperä’s highest finish in Finland is 2nd which came last season. Only one WRC1 driver is completely out of the championship race from a mathematical standpoint. That sole driver is Teemu Suninen, who drove half the season in WRC2. This means no WRC1 driver who has driven a WRC1 car all season is out of the hunt. 

Itinerary 

Day One 

Number Of Stages: 1

Total Stage Kilometres: 3.48km

Day Two

Number Of Stages: 9

Total Stage Kilometres: 104.76km

Longest Stage: Myhinpää (15.5km)

Shortest Stage: Harju (3.48km)

Day Three

Number Of Stages: 8

Total Stage Kilometres: 160.68km

Longest Stage: Vekkula (20.65km)

Shortest Stage: Västilä (18.94km)

Day Four

Number Of Stages: 4

Total Stage Kilometres: 51.64km

Longest Stage: Moksi-Sahloinen (16.56km)

Shortest Stage: Himos-Jämsä (9.26km)

Jari-Matti Latvala Returns To WRC Competition

Secto Rally Finland takes place later this week, Ott Tänak needs to do well at the event for a variety of reasons. 

Why Does Tänak Need To Do Good

With the 9th of the 2023 World Rally Championship takes place this weekend. 2022 Drivers’ Championship runner-up Ott Tänak currently sits 8 points off 3rd place (Thierry Neuville), 11 off 2nd place (Elfyn Evans) and 66 points off the current championship leader Kalle Rovanperä. If Tänak wants to keep his hopes of winning the championship this season alive he has to do well this weekend. Realistically speaking even if Tänak scores 0 points and Rovanperä scores 30 in Finland, Tänak can still come back. It would just be significantly harder. Just as a clarification Tänak can finish say 6th overall, he just has to attempt to score more points than Rovanperä. This is also the case with Evans and Neuville.

An Event He’s Won Before

Ott Tänak comes into the 2023 running of Secto Rally Finland as the reigning winner. As the Estonian won the event last year. Beating Kalle Rovanperä by 6.8 seconds. Tänak would only win 5 of the 22 stages last year. Last season Rally Finland would start Tänak’s short-lived push against Rovanperä. A push that saw Tänak win Rally Finland and Ypres Rally Belgium. Along with finding second at Acropolis Rally Greece. A second place which would have easily been a first if it wasn’t for team orders allowing Neuville to win, but I digress. Tänak’s push for the championship would come just a little bit too late. As Rovanperä would still take home the championship after winning Repco Rally New Zealand. Becoming the youngest WRC champion ever. 

With the 2023 World Rally Championship season halfway over. It may be time to start looking ahead to 2024 driver lineups. This article will look at who could drive for the M-Sport Ford WRT next season.

A Quick Note

In this article I am going to assume M-Sport will have 3 Rally1 Pumas next season. As where Jourdan Serderidis’s Puma will go next season is unknown at this point. I am also going to list atleast three potential drivers for each role (part-time and full-time). Some of these drivers may cross-over as well but it will be noted in the section about them. 

Full-Time Drivers

Ott Tänak

It’s likely Ott Tänak will remain with M-Sport Ford as their number 1 driver next season. Tänak currently sits 4th in the Drivers’ Championship, 8 points behind Thierry Neuville. Tänak returned to M-Sport last offseason after parting ways with Hyundai at the end of the 2022 season. The 35 year old Estonian is likely beginning the backend of his WRC career, but is looking for another championship win. Tänak won the 2019 WRC Championship being the first person since Petter Solberg to win the championship without the first name of Sebastien. 

Pierre-Louis Loubet

M-Sport Driver Pierre-Louis Loubet has had a rather disappointing 2023 WRC season. As Loubet hasn’t finished in the top five so far this season. Although Loubet has had some strong events, bad luck would strike each time causing him to not finish in the top five.The 26 year old Frenchman is racing in his first full WRC season. After being a part time driver for 2C Competition and M-Sport Ford. Loubet may be better served back in a part time role for M-Sport next season. 

Oliver Solberg

It’s no secret Oliver Solberg wants to be back in a Rally1 car. It’s also no secret Oliver Solberg has previously spoken to M-Sport about becoming a driver. Things just didn’t work out last season so Solberg wasn’t one this season, but he could be one next season. Solberg would make sense for M-Sport to add. As Solberg is an extremely talented driver who was really unlucky with Hyundai last season. The 21-year-old has shown what he can do in the WRC2 this season. As Solberg sits third in the WRC2 championship, 5 points behind Andreas Mikkelsen. Solberg could drive for M-Sport in a full-time or part-time role.

Part-Time

Adrien Fourmaux 

Fourmaux was another driver pushed down to WRC2 at the end of last season. Fourmaux was sent back down after a disappointing 2022 WRC season with M-Sport. Since then Fourmaux has competed in the British Rally Championship and 5 rounds of the WRC2 championship. Fourmaux hasn’t won a round in the WRC2 class this season, but has won all the rounds of the British championship so far. Fourmaux could be called back up by M-Sport to drive part time next season, well continuing to compete in the BRC. 

Gus Greensmith 

Greensmith was also demoted to WRC2 at the end of last season. Unlike Fourmaux, Greensmith parted ways with M-Sport after 6 seasons with the team. It’s unknown what the relationship between Greensmith and M-Sport is like but assuming it’s ok he could return to the team. Greensmith currently sits 5th in the WRC2 championship, 2 points behind Oliver Solberg. The 26-year old Brit would be a decent option for M-Sport to give another chance at the top level. As Greensmith has a decent amount of talent, he just hasn’t seemed to have had the luck to back it. 

Andreas Mikkelsen

Andreas Mikkelsen has been talked about a lot in the past two seasons as a candidate to return to the top level of Rally. Mikkelsen would give M-Sport another experienced driver in their lineup. As Mikkelsen has competed in 125 WRC rounds throughout his career, taking 114 stage wins and 25 podiums. The 34-year old Norwegian sits 2nd in the WRC2 championship this season, 8 points behind Yohan Rossel. Mikkelsen’s experience could be good for M-Sport if they use him in a similar role as Hyundai uses Dani Sordo. This wouldn’t be the first time Mikkelsen has driven a Ford branded rally car. As Mikkelsen would start his WRC career in a Ford. Mikkelsen began his three year stint with Ford at the beginning of the 2006 season, and ending it at the end of the 2008 season. 

Yohan Rossel

WRC2 Driver Yohan Rossel could be a good younger candidate for M-Sport to give a chance to next season. As Rossel is on pace to win the WRC2 championship this season. The 28 year old Frenchman has never been given a chance at the sport’s top level. 

Rally Estonia has come to an end, marking the end of the eighth round of the 2023 WRC season. Kalle Rovanperä would take home a dominant win at the event. 

Driver’s Championship Standings

After taking home the max possible 30 points at Rally Estonia, Rovanperä now leads the Drivers’ Championship by 55 points over Elfyn Evans. Rovanperä is well on track to taking home his second consecutive WRC championship. As the 22-year-old has no real challengers for the championship. As previously mentioned Evans sits 55 points back, which will be difficult for Evans to gain back. For Evans to take the Championship lead he’d either have to score an average of 11 points more than Rovanperä at the 5 remaining events or hope Rovanperä crashes out of Finland and takes less than 5 points in Greece. Thierry Neuville would move back into a top-three spot after taking second in Estonia. Neuville now sits just 3 points behind Evans. Ott Tänak dropped from third to fourth, now sitting 8 points behind Neuville. Sebastien Ogier would also drop from third overall to fifth, 6 points behind Tänak. 

Day One

The first day of Rally Estonia saw drivers race a single 3.35km SuperSpecial stage. Ott Tänak took the stage win, beating Elfyn Evans and Esapekka Lappi by 0.6 seconds. Unfortunately due to a penalty, Tänak would not lead after the day. Thus moving Evans and Lappi into a tie for first heading into the second day of the event.

Rally Estonia Day One Recap

Day Two

The second day of Rally Estonia saw drivers race 92.48km across 7 special stages. Ott Tänak would dominate most of the day, taking 5 out of the 7 stage wins. Kalle Rovanperä would be the only other driver to take a stage win on the second day. With the fin taking the other 2 stage wins. Unfortunately for Tänak once again his stage wins wouldn’t mean much. As he would remain last in the WRC1 class due to a penalty. Kalle Rovanperä led the rally by 3 seconds over Thierry Neuville. 
Rally Estonia Day Two Recap

Day Three

The third day of Rally Estonia saw drivers race 102.61km over 9 special stages. Kalle Rovanperä would dominate the day, taking all 9 stage wins. Rovanperä would now lead the rally by 34.9 seconds over Thierry Neuville. Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans battled for third. Lappi ended the day 7.3 seconds ahead of Evans. 
Rally Estonia Day Three Recap

Day Four

The fourth and final day of Rally Estonia saw drivers race 61.08km across the final 4 stages. Kalle Rovanperä continued to dominate during the day. Once again taking all the stage wins. Rovanperä ended the event 52.7 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville. Esapekka Lappi finished third, 7.3 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans at the event’s end. 
Rally Estonia Day Four Recap

Rovanperä Dominates

It’s not often in the WRC a driver can win 13 consecutive stages. Kalle Rovanperä would do it this weekend. As from the third day on, the reigning champion was unstoppable. The 22-year-old fin has now won Rally Estonia 3 out of the 4 times it’s been a WRC event. With Ott Tänak being the only other winner. 

Penalty For Tänak

Fan favorite Ott Tänak received a 5-minute penalty before the events start. Tänak would be given the penalty as a result of having his engine fully replaced. The replacement came after an engine issue forced Tänak to only run the shakedown stage once. M-Sport Ford chose to replace Tänak’s engine completely. Thus resulting in the 5-minute penalty. The penalty is in place so teams don’t choose to replace engines at every fault during events. 

The fourth and final day of Rally Estonia has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä would hold on to take the rally win.

SS18, KARASKI 1

Kalle Rovanperä continued his dominance taking yet another stage win. As Rovanperä finished the stage win a time 2.7 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take the stage win. Eflyn Evans set the third fastest time on the stage, 2.3 seconds slower than Lappi. Thierry Neuville would post the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 4 seconds slower than Neuville. 

SS19, KAMBJA 1

Kalle Rovanperä also took the stage win on the 19th stage of Rally Estonia. As Rovanperä posted a time 4.6 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to take the stage win. Thierry Neuville finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Evans. Esapekka Lappi set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak completed the top five on the stage, finishing 2.8 seconds slower than Lappi.

SS20, KARASKI 2

Kalle Rovanperä would once again take the stage win on SS20. Rovanperä set a time 1.2 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take the stage win. Thierry Neuville finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Lappi. Elfyn Evans posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.1 seconds slower than Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta solidified a top five finish on the stage, 2.6 seconds slower than Evans.

SS21, SS21 WOLF POWERSTAGE KAMBJA 2

The 21st and final stage of Rally Estonia would also be won by Kalle Rovanperä. Rovanperä set a time 2 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to take the stage win. Esapekka Lappi finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 1.9 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Lappi. Thierry Neuville would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.5 seconds slower than Tänak. 

Kalle Rovanperä secured the overall win with a dominant performance winning 15 of the 21 stages on the weekend. After Day 2 no one really had an answer for Rovanperä. The result provided Rovanperä with a strong result in his fight to return to the top spot in the 2023 Championship run.

Next up is

WRC Secto Automotive Rally Finland which features smooth and blisteringly quick gravel roads, buried among forests and lakes, are characterized by massive stomach-churning jumps. It is touted as the fastest rally in the championship.

Rally Estonia Day Three Recap

The third day of Rally Estonia has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä would retain the rally lead heading into the final day.

SS9, MÄEKÜLA 1

Stage nine would see Kalle Rovanperä take the win. As Rovanperä would set a time 1.6 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the win. Eflyn Evans finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.4 seconds slower than Neuville. Esapekka Lappi posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Evans. Teemu Suninen would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.5 seconds slower than Lappi. 

SS10, OTEPÄÄ 1

Kalle Rovanperä would also take the stage win on the 10th stage of Rally Estonia. Rovanperä would post a time 2 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Elfyn Evans once again finished third on the stage, this time Evans would finish 1.4 seconds slower than Neuville. Esapekka Lappi finished the stage with the fourth fastest time, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.9 seconds slower than Lappi. 

SS11, MÄEKÜLA 2

Stage 11 would see Kalle Rovanperä take his third consecutive stage win. As Rovanperä posted a time 1.9 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take the stage win. Elfyn Evans set the third fastest time on the stage, 0.5 seconds slower than Lappi. Thierry Neuville finished with the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds behind Neuville. 

SS12, OTEPÄÄ 2

The 12th stage of Rally Estonia was also won by Kalle Rovanperä. As Rovanperä would set a time 4.3 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take the stage win. Elfyn Evans would once again finish with the third fastest time on the stage, this time Evans would finish with a time 0.7 seconds slower than Lappi. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2 seconds slower than Evans. Teemu Suninen would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.6 seconds slower than Tänak.

SS13, ELVA 1

Kalle Rovanperä would also take the stage win on Stage 13. As Rovanperä finished the stage with a time 3.6 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Esapekka Lappi set the third fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Lappi. Teemu Suninen would round out the top five on the stage, 2.6 seconds slower than Evans. 

SS14, KANEPI 1

If you guessed Kalle Rovanperä took the stage win on stage 14 of Rally Estonia, you’d be correct. As Rovanperä would set a time 3.8 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Esapekka Lappi finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.9 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.2 seconds slower than Lappi. Teemu Suninen would round out the top five on the stage, 5.5 seconds slower than Evans. 

SS15, ELVA 2

Kalle Rovanperä would also take the stage win on stage 15. As Rovanperä would post a time 2.4 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to take the stage win. Thierry Neuville finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than Evans. Esapekka Lappi set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak would round out the top five in the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Lappi.

SS16, KANEPI 2

Kalle Rovanperä would also take the stage win on the 16th stage of Rally Estonia. As Rovanperä would post a time 2.7 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Esapekka Lappi finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 0.9 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.9 seconds slower than Lappi. Ott Tänak would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.1 seconds slower than Evans.

SS17, TARTU VALD 2

Kalle Rovanperä would take his ninth consecutive stage win to sweep day three’s stages. Rovanperä would set a time 0.9 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take the stage win. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Lappi. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time, 1.3 seconds slower than Neuville. Teemu Suninen would round out the top five on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Evans. 

The second day of Rally Estonia has come to an end. Andreas Mikkelsen leads the WRC2 pack after the day.

SSS1, TARTU VALD 1

Miko Marczyk took the first-stage win of Rally Estonia. Marczyk would post a time 0.1 seconds faster than Georg Linnamäe to take the stage win. Andreas Mikkelsen would round out the top three on the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Linnamäe.

SS2, PEIPSIÄÄRE 1

Oliver Solberg won the stage. Solberg finished the stage with a time 4.8 seconds faster than Andreas Mikkelsen to take the stage win. Egon Kaur finished with the third fastest time on the stage, finishing 2.9 seconds slower than Mikkelsen. 

SS3, MUSTVEE 1

Oliver Solberg would also take the stage win on SS3. As Solberg would post a time 4.5 seconds faster than Andreas Mikkelsen to take the stage win. Georg Linnamäe would round out the top three on the stage, finishing 1.6 seconds slower than Mikkelsen. 

SS4, RAANITSA 1

Georg Linnamäe would take the stage win on stage 4 of Rally Estonia. Linnamäe would finish the stage 2.6 seconds faster than Oliver Solberg to take the stage win. Sam Pajari would set the third fastest time on the stage, finishing 1.1 seconds slower than Solberg. 

SS5, PEIPSIÄÄRE 2

Sam Pajari would take the stage win on the fifth stage of Rally Estonia. Pajari posted a time 2.6 seconds faster than Andreas Mikkelsen to take the stage win. Egon Kaur compelted the top three on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Mikkelsen. 

SS6, MUSTVEE 2

Andreas Mikkelsen shook up the pack with his stage win on SS6 of Rally Estonia. Mikkelsen would finish the stage with a time 0.4 seconds faster than Marco Bulacia to take the stage win. Gus Greensmtih would finish with the third fastest time on the stage, finishing 1.2 seconds slower than Bulacia.

SS7, RAANITSA 2

Gus Greensmith won stage 7. Greensmith set a blistering time 10.1 seconds faster than Emil Lindholm to take the stage win. Andreas Mikkelsen would follow his previous stage win with a top three on the stage, 0.5 seconds slower than Lindholm.

SS8, NEERUTI

Gus Greensmith would also take the stage win on stage 8 of Rally Estonia. Greensmith would finish with a time 1.2 seconds faster than Sam Pajari. Andreas Mikkelsen set the third fastest time on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Pajari. 

For more coverage be sure to check out WRC+.

The second day of Rally Estonia has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä leads the pack after the day. 

SS2, PEIPSIÄÄRE 1

Ott Tänak won the second stage of the 2023 running of Rally Estonia. Tänak posted a time 5 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville who finished with the second fastest time. Kalle Rovanperä finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 4.1 seconds slower than Neuville. Teemu Suninen set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Esapekka Lappi rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1 second slower than Suninen. 

SS3, MUSTVEE 1

Ott Tänak would also take the stage win on the third stage of Rally Estonia. As Tänak finished with a time 1.8 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Kalle Rovanperä set the third fastest time on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans finished with the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Esapekka Lappi rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 3.4 seconds slower than Evans. 

SS4, RAANITSA 1

Ott Tänak once again took the stage win on the fourth stage of Rally Estonia. With Tänak posting a time 1.6 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the stage win. Kalle Rovanperä finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.9 seconds slower than Neuville. Esapekka Lappi set the fourth fastest time on the stage, finishing 1 second slower than Rovanperä. Teemu Suninen secured another top five on the stage, finishing 0.1 seconds slower than Lappi. 

SS5, PEIPSIÄÄRE 2

It wasn’t until stage five that we saw somebody other than Ott Tänak take the stage win. As Kalle Rovanperä posted a time 2.1 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi to take his first stage win of Rally Estonia. Elfyn Evans finished with the third fastest time on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Lappi. Thierry Neuville and Teemu Suninen would tie for the fourth fastest time. With both drivers setting a time 2.3 seconds slower than Evans. 

SS6, MUSTVEE 2

Kalle Rovanperä didn’t stop and would once again take the stage win on SS6. As Rovanperä finished with a time 3.5 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to take his second stage win of Rally Estonia. Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans would tie for the third fastest time on the stage. With both drivers finishing 0.5 seconds slower than Tänak. Thierry Neuville completed the top five on the stage, finishing 0.4 seconds slower than Evans and Lappi. 

SS7, RAANITSA 2

Stage 7 saw Ott Tänak back on top. As the Estonian would post a time 2 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to take the stage win. Pierre-Louis Loubet finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 1.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Loubet. Kalle Rovanperä would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.1 seconds slower than Neuville. 

SS8, NEERUTI

Ott Tänak would once again take the stage win on the final stage of the second day of Rally Estonia. Tänak would post a time 1.1 seconds slower than Elfyn Evans to take the stage win. Kalle Rovanperä would finish with the third fastest time on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Evans. Esapekka Lappi would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Lappi. 

All in all it was a great day for Tänak who ahs won 6 of 8 stages in Estonia. Day 3 results will be available tomorrow.

The first day of Rally Estonia has come to an end. Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans would sit tied for first at the end of the day.

Shakedown

Kalle Rovanperä would finish with the fastest time on the shakedown stage. Finishing 1.2 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville who set the second fastest time. Esapekka Lappi finished with the third fastest time on shakedown, 0.5 seconds slower than his Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on shakedown, 0.3 seconds slower than Lappi. Elfyn Evans would round out the five on shakedown, finishing 0.1 seconds slower than Katsuta.

SSS1, TARTU VALD 1

Ott Tänak would take home the first stage win of the 2023 Rally Estonia. Tänak would set a time 0.6 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans.2021 and 2022 winner Kalle Rovanperä would set the third fastest time on the opening stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Lappi and Evans. Thierry Neuville finished with the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.9 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Takamoto Katsuta would round out the top five on the stage, 1.6 seconds slower than Neuville. 

Are You Confused?

You may be wondering why Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans are tied for the rally lead when Ott Tänak would take the stage win. The answer is simple. Ott Tänak would receive a 5-minute penalty for having his engine replaced during the event. Tänak would experience an engine issue during the first running of the shakedown stage. Tänak would subsequently head back to the service park after the first running. The M-Sport team would opt to replace Tänak’s engine. Thus handing the Estonian a 5-minute penalty and costing him his chance at winning his home event. The penalty has caused a bit of dissatisfaction from some drivers and fans. With Kalle Rovanperä stating his displeasure with the penalty. Although the penalty allows Rovanperä to have a bit of an easier weekend, he was looking forward to the expected battle between himself and Tänak. 

We are about two weeks away from the 2023 running of Rally Estonia, so why not take a look back to when it joined the WRC in 2020. 

Day One 

The first day of the rally would see drivers compete on a single 1.28km SuperSpecial stage. Esapekka Lappi and Sebastien Ogier would tie for the stage win, beating Ott Tänak by 0.1 seconds. Craig Breen would finish the stage fourth fastest, 0.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans would round out the top five, finishing 0.2 seconds slower than Breen. 

Day Two

Day two of the 2020 running of Rally Estonia would see drivers race 147.18km across 10 stages. Ott Tänak would win three of those 10 stages to take the rally lead heading into the third and final day. Craig Breen, Kalle Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier would each take two stage wins. With Thierry Neuville only taking one stage win. Tänak would lead the rally by 11.7 seconds over Craig Breen after the second day. Sebastien Ogier would sit third, 17 seconds behind Breen. 

Day Three

The third and final day of the 2020 running of Rally Estonia would see drivers race 84.96km across 6 stages. Kalle Rovanperä would win three of those six stages on the day. Sebastien Ogier would win two stages and Elfyn Evans would win one. One of Rovanperä’s stage wins would come on the Powerstage, which would award him 5 extra points from the event. Although Ott Tänak wouldn’t take a stage win on the third and final day he would still take the rally win at his home event. Tänak would finish the rally with a 22.2 second lead over Craig Breen. Sebastien Ogier would finish third overall, 4.7 seconds slower than Breen. 

Penalty For Rovanperä 

Kalle Rovanperä would have a strong 2020 Rally Estonia. Unfortunately he would receive a 1 minute penalty for illegally removing the radiator backing plate. If Rovanperä didn’t receive the penalty he would’ve finished second at the event, 18.7 seconds slower than Tänak and 3.5 seconds faster than Craig Breen. 

Rally Estonia 2020 Retirements

Thierry Neuville would retire from the event on SS17 due to an electrical issue. Pierre-Louis Loubet retired on SS13 due to a steering issue, this event would be his top-level debut. Takamoto Katsuta would also retire on SS13, due to a roll.