Rally Estonia is a
rallying event organised each year in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. It is the largest and most high-profile motorsport event in the country and runs on smooth gravel roads in the south of the country, some of which are purpose-built for the rally. The city of
Tartu hosts the ceremonial start and finish, with the rally headquarters and service park usually based in the
Tehvandi Sports Center
Tehvandi Sports Center ( et, Tehvandi Spordikeskus) is a complex of sports facilities in Otepää Parish, Estonia.
It includes multi-purpose stadium (athletics and football), ski stadium, ski jumping hill K90 and biathlon shooting ranges.
Hist ...
in
Otepää
Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer c ...
. From 2014 to 2016, Rally Estonia was a round of the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backs ...
European Rally Championship
The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
The championship has b ...
. Rally Estonia was the official WRC Promotional Rally in 2019 and joined the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
calendar in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
.
History
2010–2013: Early years
The inaugural event, known as Mad-Croc Rally Estonia for sponsorship reasons, was held in 2010 as a part of the
. It was won by
Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin (born 10 November 1975 in Tartu) is a retired rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.
Career
Märtin, as understudy to then-team mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, rose to ...
who won all the
special stages. In the following year, the rally became known as the auto24 Rally Estonia.
Mads Østberg
Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen.
Career
Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in which he finishe ...
took back-to-back wins in 2011 and 2012 driving a
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
The Ford Fiesta RS WRC is the World Rally Car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford Europe and M-Sport for use in the World Rally Championship 2011–2016. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Focus RS WRC, whi ...
thus becoming the first two-time winner of Rally Estonia. Local driver
Georg Gross
Georg Gross (born 22 January 1983) is an Estonian rally driver. He won the Estonian Rally Championship five times, in 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launch ...
won the rally in 2013.
2014–2016: ERC event
In 2014 Rally Estonia became a round of the
European Rally Championship
The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
The championship has b ...
.
Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.
Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in ...
won the rally driving a
Ford Fiesta R5
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
. The 2014 edition was awarded with the
ERC Rally of the Year Award. In 2015
Aleksey Lukyanuk made history as he took the overall win driving a
R4 spec (ERC-2 category)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versio ...
against more powerful
R5 spec Ford Fiesta driven by
Kajetan Kajetanowicz
Kajetan Kajetanowicz (born 5 March 1979) is a Polish rally driver.
Titles
He is a Four time Poland Rally Champion (2010 2011, 2012, 2013). In 2012 he became champion in the Central European Zone Rally Championship.
He also became the ERC ...
. In 2016 Lukyanuk was on the verge of defending his win, but crashed out from the lead on the penultimate stage, allowing
Ralfs Sirmacis to take victory in his
Škoda Fabia R5
The Škoda Fabia R5 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car and is built to R5 regulations. It made its competition début in 2015 as a successor to the Škoda Fabia S2000. The car proved to be very ...
.
2018–2019: WRC aspirations
The event was put on hiatus in 2017 and returned in 2018, when it became known as Shell Helix Rally Estonia for sponsorship reasons. The rally became a popular event with
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
works team
A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.
Association footb ...
s preparing for
Rally Finland
Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...
. The 2018 edition marked the first time the new
Toyota Yaris WRC
The Toyota Yaris WRC is a World Rally Car designed by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT to compete in the World Rally Championship. The car is based on the Toyota Vitz#XP130, Vitz-based XP130 Toyota Yaris, and is the first car Toyota have competed with in ...
entered a competition outside the
WRC
WRC may refer to:
Broadcasting stations
* WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States
* Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area:
** WTEM, a radio station (980 AM) l ...
series.
Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.
Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in ...
won eleven stages out of sixteen and took his second Rally Estonia win. In 2019 the rally organisers signed an agreement with
WRC Promoter and Rally Estonia became the first ever official WRC Promotional Event, and revealed ambitions to become part of the World Rally Championship from 2022.
Every WRC manufacturer team entered the event, making Rally Estonia the largest rally outside the World Rally Championship.
Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.
Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in ...
took his third Rally Estonia win in dominant style winning all but two
special stages. The 2019 rally attracted more than 52,000 fans, a 25 per cent rise on 2018. More than 100 countries screened the event on television and it also proved a big hit on social media, with 25.8 million impressions and 2.7 million video views on WRC and event channels.
2020–present: WRC event
2020
The 2020 edition of the non-championship rally and the second as a WRC Promotional Rally was scheduled to slot into the
2020 WRC calendar a week after
Kenya
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...
’s
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is a rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically r ...
, round eight of the series, and two weeks ahead of the following fixture at
Rally Finland
Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...
. However, it was announced in February that the 2020 edition has been cancelled after the event organizers were unable to find agreement with the national governing body, the
Estonian Autosport Union (EAU).
Principal issue in the dispute was the competition registration fee, which the EASU raised 5,000 percent from €2,000 to €100,000 in January, just six months before the scheduled start of the rally in July. Paying that level of a fee was not possible, both legally and budget-wise, as stated by the organizers.
In March the spreading
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
led to cancellation of six World Rally Championship rounds. Organizers of the championship announced that they were considering adding events to the schedule that had not been part of the original calendar. Estonia was among the countries who had expressed interest in hosting the event. On July 2, 2020, WRC Promoter announced that the season would return with an updated calendar with newcomers Rally Estonia hosting the resuming round between 4 and 6 September making Estonia
the thirty-third nation to stage a championship round in the WRC.
The rally marked the return of the World Rally Championship after a half-year hiatus by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
and was the 600th event since the championship was founded back to . Winning the warm-up event, local favourites Tänak and Järveoja were determined to vanquish their home soil for the third straight year. The reigning world champions showed an impressive speed throughout the weekend, leading almost the entire rally to win their first victory for
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups:
* Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested
** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company
** Hyundai ...
in their motherland.
Teammates
Craig Breen
Craig Breen (born 2 February 1990) is an Irish rally driver, who competes part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, ...
and
Paul Nagle
Paul Nagle (born 29 August 1978) is an Irish rally co-driver. Drivers with whom he has teamed include Kris Meeke, Gareth MacHale and Craig Breen. finished second after a consistent performance to complete a Hyundai 1–2.
The event was widely praised and considered by some of the FIA members as one of the best WRC events of all-time. The 2020 edition was awarded with the WRC Team Spirit Award by successfully executing a Covid-safe maiden WRC event in just 63 days.
2021
After last years' success, Rally Estonia was included in the
2021 WRC calendar as round seven of the twelve-round championship. Ahead of home crowds, local favourites Tänak and Järveoja were keen to repeat their success one year ago. It wasn't long until they led the rally, but double puncture happened in two consecutive stages on Friday's morning loop put them from heroes to zeroes — They run out of spare wheel to change, meaning they could not go any further on Friday. Following Tänak and Järveoja's issue,
Kalle Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. ...
and
Jonne Halttunen
Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally Champi ...
put them in advantage for the victory contention. Having fended off the pursuit of
Craig Breen
Craig Breen (born 2 February 1990) is an Irish rally driver, who competes part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, ...
and
Paul Nagle
Paul Nagle (born 29 August 1978) is an Irish rally co-driver. Drivers with whom he has teamed include Kris Meeke, Gareth MacHale and Craig Breen. , they increasingly extend their lead to the eventual shy off one minute to claim their maiden WRC win. At 20 years and 290 days, Rovanperä became
the youngest driver to win a WRC event, breaking the previous record of 22 years and 313 days held by
Jari-Matti Latvala
Jari-Matti Latvala (born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and 2019 ...
. Breen and Nagle achieved their first podium of the season by finishing second, with teammates
Thierry Neuville
Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–2 ...
and
Martijn Wydaeghe
Martijn Wydaeghe (born 1 September 1992) is a Belgian rallying co-driver. He is partnered with Thierry Neuville for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship category.
Rally career
Wydaeghe made his WRC debut at the 2013 Rallye de Fran ...
rounded out of the podium with their fifth third place of the season.
2022
The 2022 edition was scheduled as round seven of the thirteen-round championship. Rally Estonia marked the first high-speed gravel rally for the WRC’s hybrid-powered
Rally1
Within the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally1 is a formula of rally car specifications for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the w ...
cars and turned out to be quite a spectacle. Twelve months ago
Kalle Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. ...
became the WRC’s youngest rally winner with victory in Estonia. This time the 21-year-old Finn finished the four-day gravel road fixture 1min 00.9sec clear of Toyota team-mate
Elfyn Evans
Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship.
Career
The son of 1996 British Rally Championship Champion ...
. Evans dominated initially but Rovanperä grabbed the lead in Friday’s final rain-soaked speed test. After fine-tuning his car’s set-up on Saturday morning, he reeled off seven consecutive fastest times to distance the Welshman and more than double his advantage. Rain again ensured slippery conditions in Sunday’s closing leg but Rovanperä was in no mood to compromise. He won the final
Power Stage
The Power Stage (abbreviated as PS) is a special stage that usually runs as the final stage of a rally in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Additional championship points are available to the fastest five crews through the stage regardless of ...
by an astounding 22.4sec to gain maximum bonus points. Such was his dominance that he won 14 of the rally’s 24 tests. Rovanperä and co-driver
Jonne Halttunen
Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally Champi ...
continued their unstoppable form, when the Finnish crew claimed their fifth win in six rallies of the 2022 season. Home hero
Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.
Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in ...
completed the podium a further 54.8sec adrift in a Hyundai i20, with only a single stage win. He never looked like threatening those ahead as he wrestled handling problems but the four-time Estonia winner was more than good enough to finish best of the rest.
2023
Rally Estonia is part of the WRC calendar for the fourth consecutive year as the 2023 edition is scheduled as round eight of the thirteen-round championship.
Winners
Multiple winners
* Years in bold mark WRC event
* Years in ''italic'' mark ERC event
Detailed results
Accolades
* 2014 ''ERC Rally of the Year''
* 2014 ''Tartu Sports Event of the Year''
* 2020 ''Tartu Deed of the Year''
* 2020 ''WRC Asahi Kasei Team Spirit Award''
References
External links
*
Rally Estoniaat eWRC-results
{{World rallies
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
Recurring sporting events established in 2010
Rally competitions in Estonia