Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who enters his home event as a major favourite, was initially the fastest through the early runs. However, Rovanperä surged to the top on his final two attempts.
Rovanperä beat Tänak by 1.5 seconds on the 4.08-kilometre-long stage. Tänak eventually dropped to fourth overall as his Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta both went faster. Neuville, the reigning world champion, was exactly one second slower than Rovanperä.
Katsuta’s deficit to Rovanperä was 0.9 seconds.
“It’s always nice to come back here. This is my favourite rally of the whole year. It’s always fun to come back to the Estonian roads, although the feeling isn’t quite as good as in previous years when everything felt more dialled in with the car and all,” Rovanperä said.
“We’ll try our best, of course, and we’ll see where that gets us. The feeling isn’t too bad at the moment,” the Finn continued.
Oliver Solberg, who has been given a Rally1 drive with Toyota for the weekend, also impressed immediately. He posted the fifth-fastest time, just 1.8 seconds off Rovanperä’s benchmark. The Swedish driver clearly enjoyed the performance offered by the Rally1 machinery.
“This is just unbelievable—what a car this is! It’s such a joy to drive. The road here was a bit different compared to the test, so I tried to get a feel for the loose gravel. The feeling was good, and I have a big smile on my face,” Solberg beamed.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari was sixth quickest. He managed to outpace teammate Elfyn Evans and all three M-Sport drivers. The fastest M-Sport driver was Martins Sesks, who carries high expectations on Estonia’s fast gravel roads.
Sesks outpaced Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and M-Sport’s Josh McErlean, who both finished in the top ten. The slowest Rally1 car in the shakedown was that of Grégoire Munster, who ended up 11th.
Rally Estonia kicks off with a short super special stage on Thursday evening. The real action on Estonia’s gravel roads begins on Friday, which features seven stages in total.
Rally Estonia Shakedown result:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:56.3 |
| 2. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | 1:57.2 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:57.3 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 1:57.8 |
| 5. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | 1:58.1 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | 1:58.6 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 1:58.7 |
| 8. | Martins Sesks | Ford | 1:59.8 |
| 9. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | 2:00.1 |
| 10. | Josh McErlean | Ford | 2:00.9 |
| 11. | Grégoire Munster | Ford | 2:01.2 |
Rally Estonia itinerary (CET):
Thursday, 17 July
08.01 Shakedown: Kastre (4.08 km)
19.05 SS1: Tartu vald 1 (1.76 km)
Friday, 18 July
08.16 SS2: Peipsiääre 1 (24.35 km)
09.09 SS3: Mustvee 1 (11.37 km)
10.53 SS4: Peipsiääre 2 (24.35 km)
11.46 SS5: Mustvee 2 (11.37 km)
13.01 Service (40 min)
14.44 SS6: Kambja 1 (23.74 km)
17.04 SS7: Kambja 2 (23.74 km)
18.15 SS8: Elva Linn (1.72 km)
Saturday, 19 July
07.23 SS9: Raanitsa 1 (21.45 km)
08.16 SS10: Kanepi 1 (17.43 km)
09.54 SS11: Raanitsa 2 (21.45 km)
10.47 SS12: Kanepi 2 (17.43 km)
12.22 Service (40 min)
14.05 SS13: Otepää 1 (11.15 km)
15.00 SS14: Karaski 1 (11.97 km)
16.35 SS15: Otepää 2 (11.15 km)
17.30 SS16: Karaski 2 (11.97 km)
18.51 SS17: Tartu vald 2 (1.76 km)
Sunday, 20 July
08.39 SS18: Hellenurme (11.79 km)
09.35 SS19: Kääriku 1 (24.20 km)
12.15 SS20: Kääriku 2 (24.20 km) *Power Stage
