WRC Rally Estonia 2021 starts July 15: Here’s what you need to know
The seventh round of the WRC world championship will be held on the grasslands of Estonia. The WRC Rally Estonia 2021 will start from July 15 and go on till July 18. The rally will have 24 Special Stages with a total distance of 314.16kms while the total distance covered during the rally will be close to 1300kms. The special stages will be divided into three legs that will be conducted over the four days. The WRC Rally starts from the city of Tartu in eastern Estonia and finishes at Raadi with a podium celebration. Ott Tänak is the local hero and has won the last two editions of Rally Estonia, twice with Toyota and once with Hyundai. President of the organizing committee Daniel Šaškin had stated that the routes have been carefully chosen to avoid crowded locations but at the same time allow the fans to come and enjoy the motorsport as spectators.
Here are some highlights for the WRC Rally Estonia 2021:
An entire leg for Saturday takes WRC to Peipsääre and Mustvee for the first time
The service park will be open to the spectators
49 drivers have signed up for WRC Rally Estonia with local star Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja being considered as favourites
Estonia becomes the 33rd country to join the WRC calendar
The major terrain are expected to be high speed gravel roads with plenty of crests and jumps
Weekend Breakdown for the WRC Rally Estonia 2021
Thursday
The session will start on Thursday with an evening ceremony at the Estonian National Museum service park at Tartu’s Raadi Airfield. The airfield leads directly into the Visit Estonia Tartu (1.64km) parkland special stage.
Special Stage: 1.64kms
Liaison Stage: 7.87kms
Friday
Friday’s opening leg will be mostly around Otepää in south Estonia which is regarded as the country’s winter capital. This session also contains the spectacular Alaküla jump which is an important feature of Rally Estonia. The session will have eight stages conducted over the day.
Special Stage: 130kms
Liaison Stage: 340.38kms
Saturday
The Saturday stage will be the longest stage of Rally Estonia with nine special stages. This stage will also have four new special stages that are introduced to the WRC Estonia itinerary this season. It follows the same format with drivers running on identical special stages from morning and afternoon.
Special Stage: 132.86kms
Liaison Stage: 354.45kms
Sunday
There will be six special stages for Sunday. The route of the WRC will follow its footsteps back from Neeruti, Elva and Tartu with a podium celebration at Raadi. This will complete the four-day journey of WRC around the country of Estonia.
Special Stage: 53.98kms
Liaison Stage: 237.29kms
Total Special Stage Distance: 314.16kms
Total Liaison Distance: 984.89kms
Total Rally Distance: 1299.05kms
The WRC Rally Estonia has always given close finishes in the race with the fast gravel roads being a major point of attraction for the fans of the sport. Ott Tänak might be a local favourite coming into the race, but all eyes will be on Sébastien Ogier in his Toyota Gazoo Racing car as he leads the championship table with 133 points followed by British driver and teammate Elfyn Evans at 99 points. Ott Tänakis is at fourth in the championship table with 69 points but hopes to catch up with the frontrunners by the end of this weekend. With the idea of a net zero emission approach by the Estonian Rally committee and the new sections introduced in the itinerary, the weekend will be one to lookout for. Stay tuned for more updates.
