Oliver Solberg returns to site of breakthrough victory aiming to get season back on track
Twelve months ago, the high-speed gravel roads around Tartu delivered one of the stories of the year. Back in a top-class car and making his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 debut, Solberg produced a stunning drive to claim his maiden WRC victory.
It was the kind of performance that changed expectations almost overnight.
Now, those expectations are part of the challenge.
Solberg arrives at Delfi Rally Estonia fifth in the driversā championship and still very much among the fastest drivers in the field, but his recent run has been costly. Since winning Rallye Monte-Carlo at the start of the season, the 24-year-old has too often seen big opportunities slip away.
A mechanical issue interrupted his Safari Rally Kenya victory bid. In Croatia, his rally was effectively halted after a crash in the opening stage. In Gran Canaria, he crashed out of second place on Sunday morning while chasing SĆ©bastien Ogier for victory.
Portugal brought a strong response and second overall, but Japan ended with another accident while he was applying pressure to rally leader Elfyn Evans.
Last monthās EKO Acropolis Rally Greece continued the pattern. A puncture on Fridayās opening stage cost Solberg more than a minute before an off on Saturday ended any hope of a meaningful result. He restarted and reached the finish in 16th, taking a single Super Sunday point.
The speed has rarely been in doubt. The question now is whether Solberg can turn that pace back into a clean, complete rally. Estonia would be a fitting place to do it.
Based in Tartu, the rally is one of the WRCās fastest gravel events, combining wide, flowing forest roads with blind crests, jumps, high-speed compressions and narrower technical sections. Commitment is essential, but so is accuracy. The margins are small and the punishment for even a minor misjudgement can be severe.
Solbergās Toyota team-mates arrive with their own storylines.
Championship leader Evans heads to Estonia with an 11-point advantage over Takamoto Katsuta after limiting the damage in Greece. Opening the road on Friday, Evans struggled for grip and later lost further time to two punctures, but post-rally penalties for Adrien Fourmaux and Josh McErlean helped lift him to fifth.
Evans finished second in Estonia in 2022 and will again face the challenge of running first on the road on Fridayās loose gravel. Katsuta, meanwhile, makes his 100th WRC start and arrives fresh from his first Acropolis podium. Fast gravel has often suited the Japanese driver, although Estonia has yet to deliver the same reward.
SĆ©bastien Ogier starts with momentum after a maximum-points weekend in Greece. The reigning world champion won the rally, Super Sunday and the Wolf Power Stage to close to within 37 points of Evans, keeping himself firmly in the title picture despite his partial programme. Estonia will be Ogierās first Rally1 start on these roads.
Sami Pajari completes Toyotaās manufacturer-nominated line-up and has strong Estonia experience of his own. The Finn was seventh on his Rally1 appearance here last year, finished on the WRC2 podium in 2023 and twice won the FIA Junior WRC category on these stages.
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT will look to break Toyotaās run of recent success with Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi. Neuville has finished on the podium in the last two WRC editions of Delfi Rally Estonia and led for much of Acropolis before Ogierās Sunday charge swung the fight Toyotaās way.
Fourmaux also had rally-winning pace in Greece, winning five stages and leading early on before repeated punctures derailed his weekend. Lappi, third in Estonia in 2023, returns for the third outing of his 2026 partial campaign and brings proven fast-gravel pedigree.
M-Sport Fordās challenge will be led by Josh McErlean, Jon Armstrong and MÄrtiÅÅ” Sesks. McErlean produced his strongest WRC performance yet in Greece, while Armstrong claimed his first top-level stage win before trouble struck. Sesks, eighth in Estonia last year, should be more at home on the fast gravel roads that helped build his reputation.
The rally features 18 special stages and 301.80 competitive kilometres. Friday opens with two passes each of Raanitsa, Karaski and Kanepi before the Elva linn super special, while Saturday is the longest leg of the rally at almost 150km. Sunday is built around two runs of the 24.39km KƤƤriku test, the second forming the Wolf Power Stage.
