This is more like it, isn’t it? We may only have had one stage proper, but the World Rally Championship burst back into life on Friday as the inaugural Rally Estonia got underway.
If the opening superspecial left you wanting more, fear not. Here’s DirtFish’s guide to the five different tests drivers will face on Saturday, and an idea of the condition the drivers are likely to face on those stages.
SS2/7 Prangli (12.57 miles)
The first significant action in the World Rally Championship since Rally México in March will require absolute, total and complete concentration (not that this lot ever give anything less). The stage opens with a narrow section, complete with some good jumps to warm-up with. Around two miles in the gravel gives way to the asphalt for 300 metres, before the first wider, faster section of road. This quick section will demand pin-perfect pacenotes, with more than a few of the corners turning deceptively on crests.
Another narrow stretch follows, with one particularly tricky fast left leading into a tighter left-hander. Easy to make a mistake here. The DirtFish Toyota might have had a small understeer issue at this corner…
After that there’s a wider section, before another splash of asphalt leading into a narrow section and the finish near Veski village, an area which includes some of the event’s more famous jumps.
SS3/8 Kanepi (10.50 miles)
Known as Aiaste last year, the stage is running in this direction for the first time for 20 years. The jumps in the village of Karste are probably the most famous part of this test. The start is close to Mügra village and includes a loop around a narrow section. While this might seem strange and not really in keeping with the rest of the route – the crews will be driving virtually through folks’ front gardens (the number of white barriers erected to keep stones from smashing front room windows is testament to this) – this is done with one reason in mind: reducing the average speed.
But from there the road opens up – and really speeds up. The road has been resurfaced in the middle and the grip level lowered dramatically in the torrential rain on the recce. Going into a forest towards the end of the stage, the road narrows with plenty of rocks ready to be pulled out on the inside of corners.
SS4/9 Otepää (5.97 miles)
Well known as one of Estonia’s more popular test roads, this one starts wide but narrows down just before the mid-point. The Alaküla jump is always popular with the spectators as is a specifically built 700-metre spectator section further in. This particular stretch will be well-worn by the end of the event – it’s used twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday. The last mile of the stage is fast and flowing again, save for one tight right-hander which has plenty of potential.
SS5/10 Máeküla (9.17 miles)
The most southerly stage on the route features a new spectator-friendly start, with the cars visible for a long way on a narrow and particularly loose stretch. The stage then becomes more familiar, especially through a summer camp area and a really steep downhill.
Like Otepää, there’s a short section of Máeküla that forms part of Sunday’s Saku stage and will be used four times in total. That section to the finish was used last year and includes a road along a particularly popular ski route in Kääriku. The actual ski road is named after former Finnish president Urho Kaleva Kekkonen who once skied here. After this narrow section, which is busiest in a white winter, the stage opens up and gets quicker towards the finish.
SS6/11 Elva (7.28 miles)
Back for the first time in this direction since the ’90s, this stage was last used on the Tartu Rally in 2016. It’s another mix of fast and narrow stages, this time reaching the finish via a rallycross track. Not far after the start is an asphalt section, which returns to gravel via an unseen and tricky junction.
Another asphalt section further into the test leads the crews into four rapid-fire and spectacular jumps. There are more complicated and unsighted corners in the narrow section which heads down towards the Kulbilohu RX circuit.
