Neuville set the fastest time on the short 1.76-kilometre sprint held in downtown Tartu. He was 0.5 seconds quicker than Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.
“The big day is starting tomorrow. The target for us is to have fun in the car and go fast. In the end we target a podium, it’s not the rally where I feel the most comfortable, so we need to find the fine line and don’t make any mistakes,” Neuville said.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, there are some nice stages. The first stage tomorrow will be quite fast and overgrown, it will be a challenge,” Evans reflected.
Home hero Ott Tänak posted the third-fastest time for Hyundai, just 0.6 seconds off the lead on the short super special stage.
“It is very busy here and it seems Rally Estonia is a big thing. I hope everybody will enjoy the weekend,” Tänak remarked.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who’s aiming to step up his game at his favourite rally, was fourth—one second down on the leader. The Finnish driver has won the last three editions of Rally Estonia.
“You never really know until the rally starts. Of course, that’s the goal. It’s definitely time to get things right, because we haven’t been very good this year,” Rovanperä stated.
Further down the order, Rally2 cars benefitted significantly from the road cleaning effect. Estonia’s Robert Virves surprised with a sensational fifth-fastest time in his Škoda, just 1.2 seconds off the benchmark. Promising Finn Tuukka Kauppinen also impressed, placing eighth overall.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta was sixth on the Tartu stage, followed by Oliver Solberg, who is making his debut in a Toyota Rally1 car this weekend. The Swede edged out fellow Toyota driver Sami Pajari by 0.7 seconds. Pajari finished tenth, just ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux.
“Chassis is fantastic. I didn’t know whether to take first or second gear, so I was going up and down all the time,” Solberg said.
Rally Estonia kicks off in earnest on Friday, with seven special stages totalling around 120 competitive kilometres. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Rally Estonia standings after SS1/20:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 1:42.9 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +0.5 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +0.6 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +1.0 |
| 5. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +1.2 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1.4 |
| 7. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +1.8 |
| 8. | Georg Linnamäe | Toyota | +1.8 |
| 8. | Tuukka Kauppinen | Toyota | +2.1 |
| 10. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2.5 |
| 11. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +2.7 |
| 12. | Yuki Yamamoto | Toyota | +2.7 |
| 13. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +3.6 |
| 14. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3.7 |
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
