Estonian rally team boss: Dream big and big things can follow

Ott Tänak may have retired full time from World Rally Championship (WRC) competition, but far from being over, Estonia's rallying story may only be getting underway.
Tänak's first WRC team is looking to grow and expand, focusing on youth development and taking advantage of rule changes from next year which may help more privateers compete in a sport which in recent years has been dominated by works teams like Toyota.
The team, then known as MM Motorsport, now called RedGrey, was where Ott Tänak cut his teeth in scoring his first ever World Rally Championship points, back in 2011. Now, Tänak, who was crowned WRC world champion in 2019 and retired at the end of last season, is one of the team's owners. While the man from Saaremaa no longer drives in the WRC, Roden says that RedGrey's work has not changed because of that.
Given former rally driver Urmo Aava succeeded, after many years of work, in making a WRC round a reality in Estonia, perhaps the dream of Estonia having its own WRC team is no longer completely unrealistic either.
"There is always a need for people with bold, grand visions. You have to dream big — that is how big things happen. Urmo may not be on the wrong path," RedGrey team boss Juss Roden said. "If he has made up his mind and pushes in the right direction, then why not? RedGrey already has the knowledge and skills needed to stay at the top in Rally2. I do not know how much bigger a step would need to be taken from here to qualify for something more. For Estonia to have its own team competing at the top level in WRC, you need several ambitious people, a very strong budget, and then a little bit of luck. In that case, nothing is impossible."
New WRC rules could open the door to private Estonian teams, and RedGrey is officially partnered with Toyota's development program, focusing most of its efforts there this year.
"This year our main focus is Toyota's young driver program, where we have two young Japanese drivers and Estonian Jaspar Vaher. We are completely dedicated to working with them. There are fewer World Rally Championship events this year, but correspondingly more races in various local championship series across different European countries, along with more training sessions and test days," Roden continued.
"There is much more work with all kinds of training and testing. The focus is not so much on producing results, but on building substance — we are teaching the drivers," Roden went on. "Toyota is doing exactly the right thing. They are developing and investing in their country's motorsport and young people at a very high level. Similar programs have existed in different countries over the years. France, for example, has a very strong circuit racing program. These things tend to come in waves and are often driven by emotion."
According to Roden, who witnessed up close the rise of Tänak and before him Markko Märtin, what made the Estonians special in the rally world was their dedication.
"The young people who come through our organization and with whom we have raced together — in both Markko's and Ott's case there was 110 percent commitment to their goals. If someone simply finds this sport interesting and enjoyable, it is possible to achieve a few good results, but in reality it requires enormous dedication. You build your whole life around the sport," he noted.
"As a small country, we currently have good opportunities. We have several talented young drivers who are taking serious steps forward," Roden said hopefully about the future. "Time will show how far they go and what opportunities life offers them. Rallying does not depend on one man; it is very much a team effort. They have good opportunities."
The WRC is set to undergo its biggest change in recent years next season, when WRC27 and Rally2 cars will be standardized, in an effort to attract more private teams to the series.
"It is difficult to say today whether things are moving in the right direction. Once a direction has been chosen, that is the way things move. Difficult decisions have been made before as well. In the end, people get used to everything, and very often it turns out that once you are in the new situation, it is not that bad after all — in fact, it is quite okay," Roden said of the changes.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
Source: 'Spordipühapäevas,' interviewer Ivar Lepik.









