The WRC career on hold for a university degree

Ott Tänak’s said it himself: the future is bright for Estonian rallying.

Robert Virves and Romet Jürgenson are both Junior world champions, competing in WRC2 with a manufacturer link (Virves in a Toksport Škoda and Jürgenson an M-Sport Ford). Virves jointly leads the WRC2 standings, too.

Then there’s 19-year-old Jaspar Vaher, who became the first non-Japanese driver to join Toyota’s WRC Challenge Program.

It’s hard to fight the notion that the nation is in for some big WRC success in the not-too-distant future.

“Robert was doing really well in Safari and Jaspar is doing really well in Finland [national championship], and Romet is also working really hard with M-Sport,” a former Rally Estonia winner told DirtFish.

“I think they’re all in quite good positions right now, and they’re all supported by factories. So that’s a very good thing and I think it makes me quite optimistic about the future of rallying in Estonia.”

So why isn’t the Rally Estonia winner in question, Georg Linnamäe, part of it?

His CV might not be as decorated as Virves’ or Jürgenson’s, and at 27 he’s got almost a decade on Vaher. But none of those countrymen have won their home event outright like Linnamäe did in 2024, beating Virves into second. Linnamäe would legitimately make Estonia’s talented trio an upcoming quartet.

But in his words, he made a “quiet departure” from the World Rally Championship after losing a wheel while fighting for the WRC2 podium in Finland last year. He never appeared for the rest of the season, and is yet to turn a wheel in competition since.

“There really wasn’t much news on it, if you think about it, because I didn’t really announce it to anyone anyway,” Linnamäe tells DirtFish.

“Basically I just had it in the back of my mind for a long time that I didn’t have much left to do in uni anymore, and I really wanted to finish it,” he admits. “It had just been bugging me for a bit.”

Real life hits, even for rally drivers.

Studying media and communication in Rotterdam as early as 2019, Linnamäe chose to prioritize rallying opportunities after the COVID pandemic which delayed the completion of his degree.

But in what could be described as hedging his bets, he’s now decided to reverse that equation.

“Even if you manage to make it to the WRC, there’s going to be a life beyond the sport once you retire,” Linnamäe says. “I’ve always valued education. I felt like this is something that’s necessary for me to do. And, yeah, that’s the reason why I decided to continue this.”

The timing was right, after a difficult spell behind the wheel of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 in 2025.

“Results-wise last year, aside from Estonia, we didn’t really do that well anywhere,” Linnamäe admits. “We showed some good speed in places but, due to my own mistakes, bad luck and sometimes technical issues, I just didn’t really manage to put on a consistent performance.

“I’m a very, very competitive person, so mentally it is quite difficult if things just don’t go your way time and time again. So, yeah, I just thought that some time off from rallying after so many seasons would maybe do some good for me.

“So I just took that basically as an opportunity to, let’s say, get out of it for a while, take a breather, focus on other stuff and try to get this uni thing off my mind.”

If all goes to plan, Linnamäe will graduate this year but will still do so with motorsport tie-ins: one of his final projects is based on the WRC’s More Than Machine, and he’ll do an internship with Estonian ASN Estonian Autosport Events, including working at July’s WRC round in some capacity.

After that, who knows? Which is exactly the point for Linnamäe.

He says he’s “missed” rallying and has been following it all, and he’ll be keen to explore opportunities for 2027 when Rally2 cars will be able to fight at the very front of the world championship.

“We’ll discuss, have a look around and see what’s possible,” he confirms.

But equally, he’s come to realize that happiness isn’t only found chasing a career behind the wheel.

“I just want to be happy with my work, whatever it is,” he surmises. “If it’s rallying, it’s rallying. I’d love to do it more. And if I get the right opportunities, for sure, I do want to continue.

“But if I don’t, I’m optimistic about the future. And I’m sure that there will be some interesting opportunities for me outside of rallying as well.

“For a very long time, I had it in my head that I have to be a driver and nothing else. But I think through a lot of work with myself, basically, I realized that there’s more to life than that.

“I’d be very happy if my driving career continues. But I’ve slowly started to realize that my life won’t end if I’m not rallying.”

It might appear a difficult situation to be in; a career crossroads with one path potentially blocking the other. But in reality, Linnamäe can’t lose.

He either continues to forge a rally career to try to prove himself at the very top, or he explores other opportunities in media and communications. Both would bring him satisfaction in their own ways.

Linnamäe suggests we call again in the summer to see which direction he’s ultimately heading down. But if this is to be the end of his time in the WRC he holds no major regrets.

“In general, I think I can be proud,” he says. “I was still… at least speed-wise, I was often at the sharp end of the WRC2 category. And even though more often than not they maybe didn’t translate into the results I was hoping for, I still have a Rally Estonia winner helmet at home [and] I have a few trophies that I’m very proud of in WRC2.

“I think one thing that I’ll probably miss is that I never had the opportunity to win in WRC2. But, you know, if that’s how it is, then that’s how it is. That’s life. And, yeah, like I said, I don’t think my life will end because of it.”