World Rally Championship leader Sébastien Ogier restarts his season on Rally Estonia next week with a good feeling in his Yaris WRC and an eight-point lead over his nearest rival.
The six-time champion’s nearest rival right now is Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. His nearest rival outside of Tommi Mäkinen’s stable is Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville – 20 points adrift of the Frenchman. While a seventh title is Ogier’s focus for the reminder of this season, his immediate aim is to win Estonia.
“Rally Estonia will be new for many of us, but I’m always excited to take on a different challenge,” said the 36-year-old.
“I’m happy that we are able to compete again after so long. It’s certainly going to be a demanding rally with very fast roads. The Yaris WRC gives you good confidence at these speeds and after the testing we have done in Finland and in Estonia, I have a good feeling in the car.”
Ogier got back in his 100mph office on South Estonia Rally last week, and finished in third behind Hyundai’s Ott Tänak and Ogier’s rookie Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanperä.
“It was also important to have this event last week to help us prepare, because after such a long break it is not easy to find the limit straight away.”
Photo: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Mäkinen, team principal of Toyota’s WRC efforts, is similarly pleased to be back in the WRC service park again for the first time since March’s Rally México.
He added: “It is great that we can finally go rallying again, especially for our fans and our partners who have been waiting for this moment.
“Hopefully we can bring some enjoyment to people in such a difficult period. It feels like a long time ago now, but the beginning of the season was very positive for us and we hope to continue like this.
“Our drivers are not so familiar with the Estonian stages, but we know that the roads there are fast and this suits our car well.
“I think that we have prepared as well as we can over the past weeks and I hope that we can compete for the top positions.”
