On the second run through the Kambja stage, Rovanperä once again clearly lost time to his main rivals, falling even further behind the leaders.
“This is pretty much the maximum we can do right now with this car and this feeling. I drove a clean stage, didn’t make any mistakes. I really couldn’t have done it any cleaner,” Rovanperä said at the stage end.
Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg continued his sensational run in the Toyota Rally1 car, setting yet another fastest time. He edged Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux by 0.3 seconds and Thierry Neuville by 1.2 seconds.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak was 1.8 seconds off the pace, and Rovanperä lost 3.5 seconds.
“Looked on live and saw Ott pushing and said – why not. I tried something new on the car, got a bit of precision, but lost a bit of traction. It’s slippy out there with these tyres in these conditions,” Solberg summed up.
“It’s quite hard to keep up the pace. I did everything I could,” Tänak added.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari has now put his earlier technical issues behind him. On SS7, he showed stronger pace than on the first pass, losing just 3.8 seconds to Solberg. Pajari is now matching the pace of his compatriot Rovanperä.
“Starting to be much nicer. Had a really clean stage, now I start to feel the pace and where it should be,” Pajari said.
In the overall standings, Solberg has pulled 13.7 seconds clear of second-placed Tänak. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville remains third, now 16.2 seconds off the lead. Rovanperä is still fourth, but now trails by 21 seconds — not a good sign for his title hopes.
Fourmaux has moved up to fifth, pushing Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta down to sixth. Championship leader Elfyn Evans holds seventh, with Pajari still in eighth.
One more stage remains on Friday evening. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Rally Estonia standings after SS7/20:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | 1:05:04.8 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +13.7 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +16.2 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +21.0 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +31.1 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +32.0 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +42.6 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:06.2 |
| 9. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +1:12.5 |
| 10. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +1:30.9 |
| 11. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:41.6 |
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
