Estonia hosted a round of the World Rally Championship from 2020 to 2023, but this year Rally Estonia is part of the European Rally Championship. The rally will be held around Tartu on the same gravel roads as in previous years.
A total of 51 crews from 23 different countries have registered for the competition. The rally also includes familiar names from the World Rally Championship.
Among the top drivers in the ERC are Frenchman Mathieu Franceschi, New Zealander Hayden Paddon, Romanian Simone Tempestini, Norwegian veteran Mads Østberg, Finland’s Mikko Heikkilä and Latvian hope Martins Sesks.
They will be challenged by WRC2 class drivers including Estonians Georg Linnamäe and Robert Virves, as well as Nikolai Gryazin competing under the Bulgarian flag.
“We had a good pace in Estonia last year, and the car (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) feels good on fast rallies, so we should have good chances in the ERC stage this year. If everything goes as planned, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to compete for the win,” Linnamäe said.
Also on the starting line is reigning Finnish champion Teemu Asunmaa, for whom this will be the first rally in the ERC.
A total of 21 crews will start the competition with Rally2 cars.
“When we initially planned this year’s Rally Estonia, one of our wishes was to have a strong starting list from the Estonian side, with strong competition in every class and this wish has now come true,” said rally estonia director Urmo Aava.
Rally Estonia will be held from 5-7 July.
See the full Rally Estonia entry list here.
