ESTONIA. Tartu: The Toyota Yaris WRC driver Kalle Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen trounced every challenge from Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC driver Craig Breen to manage the lead throughout the rally. Rovanperä is now the youngest winner of an FIA World Rally Championship round.
Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen defeated Craig Breen by 59.9 sec to win the Rally Estonia. Belgian driver, Thierry Neuville finished third at Rally Estonia. He was 12.5 seconds behind his teammate Craig Breen. Championship leader Sébastien Ogier secured fourth position in this Rally Estonia but still leads the championships table with 148 points.
Breen was more favourable for fast tracks of Rally Estonia but unfortunately his Hyundai car’s front suspension was damaged after clipping a rock during the rally.
Earlier, Ott Tänak, Hyundai’s local hero and 2019 World Champion retired from the game after his vehicle suffered a double puncture. Tanak only had one spare tyre aboard his i20 Coupe WRC and thus couldn’t continue.
This victory promoted the 20 year and 290 days young Estonian Kalle Rovanperä to fourth position in the championship standings with 82 points.
Final positions
- Rovanperä/Halttunen, Time taken: 2h51m29.1 s
- Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Hyundai) , Time taken: +59.9 s
- Neuville/Wydaeghe, Time taken: +1m12.4 s
- Ogier/Ingrassia, Time taken: +1m24.0 s
- Evans/Martin, Time taken: +2m07.1 s
- Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (M-Sport Ford), Time taken: +7m07.3 s
- Pierre-Louis Loubet/Florian Haut-Labourdette (Hyundai), Time taken: +8m48.3 s
- Alexey Lukyanuk/Yaroslav Fedorov (Škoda), Time taken: +10m16.1 s
- Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (Škoda), Time taken: +10m29.9 s
- Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroën), Time taken: +10m46.6 s
Championship standings
- Ogier – 148 points
- Evans – 111 points
- Neuville – 96 points
- Rovanperä – 82 points
- Tänak – 74 points
- Takamoto Katsuta – 66 points
- Breen – 42 points
- Gus Greensmith – 34 points
- Dani Sordo – 31 points
- Adrien Fourmaux – 30 points
Manufacturers’ standings
- Toyota Gazoo Racing – 315
- Hyundai Motorsport – 256 points
- M-Sport Ford – 125 points
- Hyundai 2C Competition – 36 points
Rally Estonia
The rally was first held in 2010 and it hosted the European Championship for three years between 2014 and 2016. In 2019 The Rally Estonia was awarded WRC Promotional Event status. This year 49 drivers signed up to compete as the country becomes the 33rd one to join the WRC calendar. The rally offered 24 Special Stages covering a distance of 314.16kms of high speed gravel roads.
With five rallies remaining, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team is running short of 59 points from Toyota Gazoo Racing which is leading the championship battle with 315 points.
Also Read: Sébastien Ogier And Julien Ingrassia Wins Safari Rally Kenya
About FIA
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile or International Automobile Federation (FIA) is an association established on June 20, 1904. FIA works across three key interlinked areas of activity i.e.: Sport, Campaigns and Mobility and promotes motor sport and road safety around the world.
Coming next in the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship, is Renties Ypres Rally in Belgium making its first WRC appearance on August 13 – 15, 2021.
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