Tänak's Thierry Neuville (Belgium) was 1.8 seconds behind Solberg by the end of Friday's seven stages.

Round eight of the 2025 season, Rally Estonia returns to the full WRC calendar after a year's absence, when its place was effectively taken by Rally Latvia. The race has been held in South Estonia since 2010, becoming a full WRC stage a decade later.

This year's route totals 20 stages over 308.35 km, and as is traditional with WRC events, Thursday featured a shakedown run (won by double world champion and Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä of Finland) and a short stage proper, in front of spectators.

2019 champ Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja enter the race with great momentum after winning Rally Greece at the end of last month, his first win of this season. "We've had three tough rallies behind us, where we showed strong performances," he said before his home rally, which is followed by the near-home Rally Finland.

"Now a new challenge awaits – Rally Estonia, the first of two very fast and flowing gravel rallies. I really enjoy driving on fast gravel roads, as those were the roads I learned to rally drive on," Tänak went on.

The Estonian said the correct car setup will be crucial in both Estonia and Finland. "Both rallies require a clean performance because speeds are high and time differences are very small. The car setup must be precise, and aerodynamics will play a big role," he explained.

Tänak's recent strong performances have boosted him up to third place in the overall standings going into Rally Estonia, on 138 points, behind only two Toyota drivers: Welshman Elfyn Evans – fresh off giving a demonstration drive with Prime Minister Kristen Michal in the co-driver's seat and hungry for his maiden title (150 points), with veteran eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier (France) nine points behind Evans. Rovanperä is in fourth place on 117 points, while Neuville is down in fifth place on 96 points ahead of the Estonian race.

Thursday

The Estonian drivers put in some good performances before the home crowd at the opening day of this year's Rally Estonia, with Ott Tänak (Hyundai) finishing third in the opening Tartu Vald stage and Robert Virves (Škoda) coming in in fifth place.

Several other Estonians are competing in the lower-tier Rally2 category, namely Romet Jürgenson and his co-driver Siim Oja (Ford), Georg Linnamäe and his British co-driver James Morgan, along with the pairings of Egon Kaur - Allan Birjukov (Škoda), Joosep Ralf Nõgene - Aleks Lesk (Toyota), and Travis Pärs - Aigar Pärs (Peugeot, in the Rally4 category).

Tänak's teammate and reigning world champion Thierry Neuville (Belgium) won stage one proper on Thursday evening.

Max attack @KalleRovanpera #WRC | #RallyEstonia pic.twitter.com/IS2UUwcwby

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) July 18, 2025

Friday

Tänak spent virtually the entire day in the second position, an improvement by one place over his third at the end of Thursday. However, this positioning has its drawbacks as it involves going out early and "road cleaning." Only table leader Elfyn Evans had a worse starting position in those terms.

"Tomorrow we'll really understand what pace we have, because today we were opening the road a bit and that makes it a slightly different rally," Tänak told RallyTV after the day's stages.

"We haven't been in the same place yet [with Solberg]. We'll see tomorrow. Oliver is our target, but Thierry is also very close and drove very well today. A battle between us awaits."

The day ended with a nice surprise for Tänak after he was met at the Elva city stage finish by an interviewer — his young son Ron.

Solberg and his British co-driver Elliott Edmondson were making their full WRC1 debut for Toyota, and so earned the first stage win of their career at that level, by finishing fastest in Friday's Peipsiääre 1 opening stage. They beat Rovanperä by 5.3 seconds, Neuville by 5.6 seconds and Tänak by 7.6 seconds.

On the third stage, however, Tänak posted the best time, beating Solberg by 0.2 seconds and climbing from fourth to second in just one stage. The stage itself was temporarily stopped for about twenty minutes, after a spectator required medical attention.

While Solberg won both Peipsiääre stages, Tänak took both Mustvee stages on Friday.

In the WRC2 category, Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo lead their class after Friday. The pair completely dominated the South Estonian roads, winning all eight stages in his class so far. This has come despite an apparent food-related health issue affecting him throughout the day. He did start feeling slightly better in the afternoon. "Still not one hundred percent healthy, but getting better," he said after the Elva city stage. "I'm not planning any major changes to the car for tomorrow."

Linnamäe secured a 1-2 for Estonia, ending the day 35.3 seconds behind Virves. "We're in a position where it's hard to make up time, but we'll keep pushing," he said. "Two long days lie ahead—anything can happen."

Kaur had been in third after the morning stages, but engine problems dropped him to sixth by the end of the day. "A big disappointment. Everything was going very well until the problem. Hopefully we can fix it in the service park," was his reaction, even as he is currently just 12.3 seconds off the podium.

Saturday brings seven more stages on the South Estonian gravel, starting from 8.23 a.m. Estonian time and with the last stage starting at 7.51 p.m. The final day, Sunday, starting at 9.39 a.m. with the first of two regular stages, culminating in the Kääriku 2 power stage at 1.15 p.m.

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