Kalle Rovanperä set the leading pace in the 1.64 km long SSS opener at this weekend’s Rally Estonia.
The young Finn clocked the fastest time in Shakedown earlier today. Craig Breen was second fastest this evening, just 0.1s behind Rovanperä. M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen ended the first stage in P3, 0.4s behind Rovanperä.
WRC2 title contender Mads Østberg, Jari Huttunen, double ERC-champion Alexey Lukyanuk and Gus Greensmith set identical times in P4, six tenths slower than Rovanperä. Hyundai team-mates Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville also set joint stage times in P8 (+0.9). Championship leader Sébastien Ogier sits in P10 overnight, albeit only 1.2 seconds behind his team-mate in the lead.
Takamoto is in P15 at the end of Thursday, 1.9s behind Rovanperä. Elfyn Evans, who started his 100th WRC-rally this evening, is a few places further down, 3.2 seconds off the lead and 0.1s ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet.
SS2 starts tomorrow morning at 09:40 local time (08:40 CEST) with the Arula stage. Your Rally Estonia quick preview including itinerary.
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WRC Rally Estonia 2021 | Classification after SS1
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | 1:42.8 |
| 2. | Breen / Nagle | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +0.1 |
| 3. | Suninen / Markkula | Ford Fiesta WRC | +0.4 |
| 4. | Østberg / Eriksen | Citroën C3 Rally2 | +0.6 |
| 4. | Huttunen / Lukka | Hyundai i20 R5 | +0.6 |
| 4. | Lukyanuk / Fedorov | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | +0.6 |
| 4. | Greensmith / Patterson | Ford Fiesta WRC | +0.6 |
| 8. | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +0.9 |
| 8. | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +0.9 |
| 10. | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | +1.2 |
| 15. | Katsuta / Barritt | Toyota Yaris WRC | +1.9 |
| 19. | Evans / Martin | Toyota Yaris WRC | +3.2 |
| 20. | Loubet / Haut-Labourdette | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +3.3 |
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool