It used to be the Mänttä Rally. Then it was the Pirelli Rally. Latterly, of course, it’s been Rally Estonia, until Tartu transferred from appetiser to main event.
There’s nothing new about warm-up rallies for the fast gravel which sits side of the Baltic Sea. And, happily, nothing has changed this year. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak will start Lõuna-Eesti Ralli on July 8, ahead of the main event, Rally Estonia a fortnight later.
Tänak last drove the event in 2020, when it was one of the first rallies back after COVID-19. The local hero won the event aboard his factory Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. Toyota and M-Sport both fielded factory cars for the then Võru-based event.
Now based in Haanja, Lõuna-Eesti Ralli offers 43 miles of competition in three loops of three stages – the perfect set-up for a test event. This will be Tänak’s first taste of the Ford Puma Rally1 on fast gravel.
The week after Rally Estonia, Toyota and Hyundai will be in action at the HYAcenter Ralli – the Tampere-based Pirelli Rally by another name.
Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans will drive Toyota GR Yaris Rally1s on the 50-mile July 29 event. Competition will be coming in the shape of a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 for Esapekka Lappi as he gears up for a shot at a second home win on Secto Rally Finland the following weekend.
An entry for Tänak is being reserved at the Finnish event, with M-Sport deciding after Estonia if they want more seat-time for the 2019 world champion.
