The 25-year-old Estonian was in good pace throughout the weekend and ultimately finished an impressive seventh overall in the general classification.
In the WRC2 class, only the host country’s Oliver Solberg, who drove to a dominant victory, and fastest second-class Toyota, Sami Pajari, managed to finish ahead of him.
Such a strong performance from Linnamäe in Sweden was not widely anticipated. Last year, he finished fourth in the WRC2 class and twelfth in the overall classification.
“I would say that this went pretty well,” Linnamäe confirmed to RallyJournal.com
“It was great that we got first stage win, and it really showed the potential of the Toyota,” Linnamäe continued.
Even among Estonian journalists, there was wonder and admiration for Linnamäe’s pace, but the Estonian driver himself was not surprised.
“We had quite a lot of issues last year, but I felt that the speed really started to come through. It was just that the package wasn’t together yet,” Linnamäe explained.
Last year, Linnamäe competed in Skoda and Hyundai’s Rally2 cars. This season, he has switched to Toyota’s new Rally2 car.
“Last year, I had to push a lot to get any sort of stage time. This result was coming, and now it came much more easily,” Linnamäe said, satisfied.
The Estonian has clear plans for this season.
“Current plan is to go to Croatia next. Hopefully we can do some smaller tarmac events in preparation,” Linnamäe revealed, referring to the rally scheduled for April.
“We still have only a few kilometers on this car. The guys we were up against this weekend have already driven thousands of kilometers, so in that regard, we still have a lot to catch up on,” Linnamäe continued.
Linnamäe’s development has been promising. In Sweden, he secured his first podium finish in the WRC2 class. The Estonian has been working determinedly towards his dream for years, and this season could already be the time for fruition.
