13. Rally Estonia 2023
20. 7. – 23. 7. 2023, Tartu • Estonian Autosport Events MTÜ • gravel 300.42 km • total distance including road sections - 1366.66 km • Other years
Info
SS21
"It was nice to see so many fans not only on stages but on liaisons. Luck wasn't on our side again, but we'll see what next time brings."
"An important event, this one. For the championship it's a really important place to get good points and the plan was this exactly. It's my favourite event of the calendar so I knew we had to push here, and it went well. Big thanks to the team - the car was working well always. It's a shame that we couldn't fight with Ott Tänak this weekend - I am sure he will show the speed in Finland."
"I lost the hybrid so I had no hybrid for 16km. Nothing I could do but I had to drive faster because I didn't know how much time I would lose! I am very happy because I think it's a good boost of motivation for us. I have never been so fast on these rallies and going to Finland that's a great boost."
"It's not been so far away but just small details have made the difference really. I guess we weren't fully, fully on it, so of course I am disappointed to have not made it onto the podium. That's how it is, we have to try and do better in Finland."
"It's been a strong weekend from our team. I think we were closer to Toyota than we expected, but still too far behind. We need to keep working but thanks to the team - we didn't have any problems except for the hybrid which was my fault in the end. We did a good job in the testing and development of the car and we just need to continue like that."
"It has been really special feeling, I am sure Craig Breen has been following my speed and it would have been nice to say a podium was for Craig to honour him, but we didn't manage to do it. It's been an emotional rally for me. Big thanks to Hyundai. It's a great environment to be working in and I am really happy here."
"I have no speed, that's the problem. I need to improve for Finland, otherwise same story there. Sorry for the team - I had no speed this weekend but I will try to find out."
"It was possible to do a bit better I think. In some places I was over-pushing a bit, so let's see. We can be pleased, it's been a good weekend. Some tough things on the first passes but we tried our best."
"In the previous stage, even Taka beat us quite strongly. The performance deficit is quite big. I tried quite hard and I had a more or less perfect stage so let's see. If Finland is like yesterday and today then I don't know - I will try anyway."
"We took the clever approach this weekend. Oliver Solberg had great pace on day one and he was maybe a bit over the limit, but we had a constant speed. After he went off we just tried to maintain the gap as good as possible. On the Power Stage you always want to go flat-out but we were holding back a little bit because the 25 points is so crucial."
"It has been a rally strong weekend and I am very grateful to be here. So many people came here to support us and it's a really nice feeling, this is for them. I was looking for the top step on the podium but I think this is quite good for the moment!"
"It was a bad stage to be honest, I started at way too high tyre pressures because I thought it was going to be a little bit rougher. A very disappointing weekend, I have to say. It's okay, I enjoyed and that's the most important thing. As long as I am fast then I am happy."
"It would have been nice to maybe get a few seconds more out of that stage but, okay, we're here and a big thanks to the team. It's not been an easy rally for anyone but I am so happy. We gained a lot of experience and good information for the next rallies."
SS20
"We tried, of course we can always find a few bits but it was fine."
"It should be good for the Power Stage but we still need to do a good stage. I can not overshoot a junction or spin or anything like that. It was a clean one, no dramas."
"It was a good clean run. A nice stage, a good feeling in the car and I enjoyed it. We have to go for it [in the Power Stage], the battle is still on."
"It's quite nice. Definitely on this one I didn't want to push too much anymore, I wanted to have good tyres for the Power Stage. Hopefully in this one we didn't use them too much but it's nice to have good pace also."
"I need to try something to gain a bit of the gap before the Power Stage. In the Power Stage I will be going flat-out."
"I am surprised by the time, I was thinking it would be better. I struggled at the end in the ruts so we lost a bit of time."
"It was okay, nothing special really. The end part was quite rutted. Maybe we could have been slightly faster but it was generally okay."
SS19
"For sure the driving is good. We could be a bit faster by pushing and taking risks but the driving is clean and that's why the clock is liking it!"
"It was not a great stage from me. Still taking it a bit carefully and I couldn't use the aero in the fast places. I have to learn from this."
"It was a clean enough run, no dramas. All good but maybe a little bit too late! Let's see, we'll keep at it."
"I am surprised... I thought I did a really good stage."
"It was a good recce for the Power Stage. It's a really nice stage, the grip levels were really consisent and it was a wake-up call. In the first one I was sleeping a bit."
"Yesterday and today we have seen we have no chance for the Power Stage. The guys are still pushing and the gaps are still small, our speed has not been great."
"It's a mixture of conditions. In some corners you have a lot of grip but in some there is a lot of loose. A few surprises but I enjoyed it a lot."
"It was my first time in this stage so I was struggling a bit to be very consistent. The second pass will be a lot better, I think."
SS18
"I just drive how I feel good. That's our pace at the moment with no risks and I cannot be any slower than that to be honest!"
"I was too careful in some places. It's a tricky stage when you don't know it and I didn't want to do any stupid things. It was possible to be a bit faster."
"By the kilometres I am getting more experience and a better feeling with the car. In this one I was quite careful. There is quite good grip from the road and I wasn't able to use it."
"It was a good one, especially the second half of the stage. In the beginning the grip was higher than I expected so I was a bit too slow there. Anyway, I was all the time on the clean line. It was good."
"I didn't have a great stage. I lost a bit the rear in a slow corner at the beginning and after that I was quite careful."
"The fast parts for us are still quite tricky, the rear end is quite fluffy. Generally the middle part was almost full dry but the start and the end were quite damp."
"I had a smooth stage with no mistakes. Let's see for the Wolf Power Stage."
SS17
"It was a great day. I felt really good in the car and I think we drove the car to its maximum most of the time. There's just a little bit missing to match the pace of Kalle but without the puncture I think it would have been a perfect day."
"Really nice day. I was oiling the air filter before that stage and it was so sandy that I almost had to change it halfway through! I enjoyed it - the stages are amazing."
"I did good in this one on Thursday and I had a couple of missed shifts and lost some time. Now I made sure that I would not have the missed shifts and the time is good."
"I am quite happy but the pace can always be slightly better. I think it's clever to take the pace step by step and our target is to get the experience."
"It was a nice day but of course frustrating to give away some seconds to Lappi at points. It's still fairly close and all to play for tomorrow."
"It was possible to do a better day, especially in the afternoon when we had a hybrid issue. It's part of the game, let's continue."
"Today was a bit tricky. We just came through and obviously it was nothing special. We had some trouble and some moments but the rest was just driving through."
"You keep asking me every time but I have no skill to describe what happened [in SS14] in English! I made one big mistake in this stage but we are here and this is the most important stage."
SS16
"I really tried. I've been trying the whole afternoon to be honest but it was a big disappointment on the last one. I really put in a lot of effort and the time wasn't really impressive. At least this one against Evans is okay."
"I touched a little bit the bank but I had a problem in all right-hand corners with the car and I can see something is wrong with the pressures. The pressure is really high and the car was sliding a lot into right-hand corners."
"For sure the feeling is nice. I have really enjoyed the afternoon especially, it has been really nice. The car is working well and these are my favourite stages of the entire calendar, so why wouldn't I be enjoying them at full speed? A lot of fans as well, it's really cool."
"It's been many things but we are here, that's the main thing."
"All okay, I was too careful in some places and it was not a good stage for me. It is possible to do a bit better but it's like that."
"I was being more cautious and enjoying the driving. Now I am starting to feel more at home with this car, I think the next step would be to improve the risk level a bit."
"Let's see if it's enough. We'll see what EP does. We're trying, for sure, but like I've said all day - there's always a line between being over the top and not doing enough."
"For some reason on this stage the car is not working at all. Just driving sideways with no chances to go straight forward. Some tricky places but it's actually quite a nice road."
SS15
"It's feeling also quite easy at the moment and the car is working well. I don't need to push so much, I just keep the driving really clean and the times come. I don't see any need to back off, it's going well like this."
"We had a good stage - and it was really fun. It's crazy when you see the times, the rhythm that you go and there's only two-tenths between us!"
"So many things happened so I cannot tell you everything because not there is enough time! Before this stage many things happened."
"We are lucky that the guys for the hybrid were there at the regroup. The conditions are much better now so it's more enjoyable."
"It's better than it was last time around but let's see what Lappi does in this one here."
"I pushed like hell so I am very disappointed with the time. I did a good stage, a really good run, but it's a bad time."
"It's perfect now. I just need to get back to the rhythm now - we have been hanging around a bit and it's time to get back into the rhythm."
SS14
"It's quite slippy now, I think the road is cleaning also so it gets a bit faster all the time. We are driving good, nothing big in there. On one slippy corner I ran a bit wide but it's going well."
"Really fast. I tried to drive a bit faster because I feel comfortable with the car and I am feeling quite confident now. The other guys are pushing more because they are in the fight."
"It's difficult in a stage like this. It's cleaning a lot, outside of the line is really slippery and even inside the line it's inconsistent in places. I tried to be as clean as possible."
"I tried to be clean but it was quite slippery out there to be fair. Once we leaned on a bank and I thought we had a puncture, I had a few vibrations after that. All in all, quite okay."
"Obviously we lost a bit with the puncture [this morning] so we are trying to catch a little bit of a safety margin back. I had a good stage but the tyres started to overheat on the rear and it was a bit like a tow truck. The rear was moving all the time and it was hard to keep it in line."
"I lost hybrid at the start of the stage. For sure we lost a lot of time."
"I got it roughly fixed now so it should be quite okay. The front wheels were directing who knows where so it was a bit difficult to know where it was. By the eye I made my own geometry and it seems quite okay."
"I cannot restart the car. I don't know... whole stage like this! We cannot move..."
Off road
SS13
"This braking was good, a couple of other corners as well, but the rest was too slow. I think I had more grip now than before so I could have pushed a bit harder but I was not brave enough."
"I had quite an okay stage. It's a nice stage but the grip was lower than expected so I was braking a bit early here and there. In general, we couldn't have been much quicker."
"I am surprised about the time, I was sure that for the first time today it was not a good time. I was not pushing much, for sure the driving was clean, but I felt like I left some time in there. Anyway, it looks to be okay."
"A few mistakes. In some corners you have a lot of grip and in some others you have no grip. It was not so easy to judge what the grip was going to be."
"Not very good, I did a small mistake so I lost a bit of time. I was wide and in the loose - not a perfect stage from my side."
"I am really happy with the car. The speed is crazy with this! I am really enjoying, I really like it."
"We'll just keep going. Let's see what's possible, obviously it's been close all morning. Let's keep trying."
"We will try to survive... there has been a mistake in service so it is quite a struggle to drive at the moment."
SS12
"We had a gap which we tried to control so no drama."
Puncture
"The time looks quite good. I was pushing like hell the whole stage to be honest. It's enjoyable in the car. The jumps are harsh but it's a good job for the fans and I tried to push hard."
"Obviously he [Lappi]'s having a clean run, for us it was also fine. Bit careful maybe on a few of the jumps, but overall fine."
"A little bit better but second pass is always better for us. For sure we try to benefit from that as much as possible, but difficult to make the differences"
"No idea, it's frustrating - but nothing we can do to be honest. We did like 3.5km with the puncture so not easy, but we didn't lose too much."
"The previous one was OK, this one was really terrible so much loose gravel. Just driving."
"I'm still missing something, but we try to find out this afternoon"
"Me in terms of confidence is better on the second pass for sure, so let's continue and try to do a better first loop."
"That was slightly better but there are quite big jumps and we are taking those a bit carefully. Still I had quite a big sideways landing - we are lucky we are here."
SS11
"It's not good enough, not enough risks, too safe. It's just not my day."
"I was quite clean. I was trying to get always a good exit but maybe sometimes I missed a bit of corner speed. Maybe I need to attack a bit more and get a bit more sideways!"
"That's quite good. A bit cleaner driving than in the morning on this one so everything is fine. It's nice to follow the line of the others!"
"Much better than this morning. I feel much better in the car on the second loop, I don't know why, but it's good."
"The first one was slightly better. There were quite big ruts and I was struggling a bit with the car, but otherwise it was a clean run."
"It seemed pretty clean and tidy. Of course, there are always bits you could do better but it felt quite okay."
"A bit rutted in places but definitely much better than the first loop. The big road is still a bit so and so but the small road is quite okay."
"Conditions have improved quite a lot so it's easier to drive. All okay."
SS10
Driveshaft
"It was okay, very difficult and easy to do a mistake. I lost a little bit of time in the last part but it's okay."
"Engine is cutting out so we have no power, cutting out in very random places. It's not going our way anymore."
"Nothing crazy, I just tried to clean up the driving a bit and for sure this stage felt a bit better. Good first loop let's say"
"I try but I always feel like I'm hesitating a bit here and there. On the jumps I could take more risks, but I don't know if I should."
"Nothing special, a lot of jumps for sure a lot of hard landings. Something is missing from my side. The car feels good but I'm not as on the limit as yesterday. I don't know why."
"Again there's always time [to find], but generally fine."
"Normally I really like jumps but this one I really hated because too many jumps and all of them quite hard. It's not nice to be honest"
"Quite a terrible stage, just from one ski jump to another ski jump, it's just a massive pain to survice. Not a nice one at al
SS9
"A bit of a surpise, I think I left a little bit behind in that stage to be honest. There were a few corners but I think we'd have to go through the onboard to find it."
"I think a mistake's been made at service, the car's toeing a long way out. I'll see if I can make a tweak."
"It was the s***iest stage of the weekend for me so far. Now when there is line I need to get used to the grip a bit. I can drive much faster so let's see what we can do."
"It didn't feel like it was a good stage to be honest, my pacenotes were slightly too slow in some sections. I'm surprised by this time, I didn't expect that."
"I guess I was not committed enough in the beginning, but it started to go better towards the end of the stage like the splits are showing. But I guess it's not enough soon."
"It was good... a good feeling, but wait for the guys behind! They are crazy fast!"
"Super slippy! It's a totally different feeling than yesterday, car works very well but super slippy. A bit scared but OK!"
"I hope for continued improvement and to do better. It was not perfect on my driving but not easy to find a good rhythm."
"The fast guys are coming from behind now."
SS8
"Quite a tricky stage so I just drove through without mistakes. Today was not good for me... I need to improve."
"In this one I did a mistake on a crest and completely braked on the straight. For the rest, it's been a good day. Compared to the pace of last year we have made some good progress and I am happy with the feeling in the car."
"A really good day for us, a lot of learning. I know I have to take a step forward with the driving to compete with my team-mates but I know that it's coming and it's positive for me."
"I couldn't follow the pace notes. I don't know if I am too tired or what. There were many places where I was not so sure where we were, maybe the notes were just bad."
"I'm always having a go, whether it's enough or not is the question. It felt like a pretty decent run with no dramas. All good."
"We are happy to be in the rhythm, that's the most important part for us.
"At the start of the day my mood hasn't been the best but I am slowly getting used to it and it's not so bad at the moment."
"Not such a bad day overall. I am a bit disappointed that I lost a bit of time going wide in one corner."
SS7
"It was quite clean but I lost some time on some accelerations. I couldn't make an upshift a few times so I lost some tenths here and there. The car is working really nicely, it's a pure pleasure to drive to be honest."
"It depends on the conditions. This one is not so bad with the ruts so you can push, but in other stages it can put you down quite a lot. Maybe I need to take more risks but I need to find the balance."
"It's good. This afternoon is much better, it means that we did a good progress so let's continue."
"It's difficult to drive fast while being careful. We will try to improve and try to learn the car - it's fast!"
Misty windsreen
"It's really smooth. When it's like a Grand Prix the car is behaving rather okay. My boy was cheering me on at the start line so I had to give him a bit of a push!"
"I felt good in the car. Just towards the end I had a problem with the brakes."
"We're doing what we can."
"The ruts were not so bad in this one."
SS6
"There is not much we can do at the moment. We have a good rhythm but I struggled with understeer on entry and oversteer in the ruts. I can feel it's not perfect but that's what it is at the moment."
"It's okay, no mistakes, no drama. All good."
"I am trying to find the confidence but the weather is making it even more difficult. If I try to push too much than I will easily make a mistake and then that's it."
"This one was maybe a bit more clear, but really soft. I don't know why but it seems there is always like not even 0-car lines, it was just like normal car lines in the road."
"We don't call them slides, they are surprises. They happen quite often... it's nothing new, you have to get used to it."
"It's quite difficult with small rain. It was very demanding but the grip was higher than expected."
"I was struggling with the ruts - I lose the front a few times but that's how it is."
"It's difficult sometimes to get the car turned in. Kalle's had a good run, for me it didn't feel bad."
SS5
Steering arm
Power steering problems
"I was really worried to pull a tyre off the rim because the ruts are just incredible, it's crazy!"
"I thought that I had a puncture at the beginning of the stage."
"I have no confidence at all."
Damaged suspension
"We did well. I tried to be clean and sometimes I tried to push. A few surprises but we are here!"
"It's with the rain. It's not the same conditions so there is not much you can do. The conditions are evolving with every car and there are just a couple of places where you lose the speed and you cannot go faster. Compared to Ott it's a good time and we can be happy."
"We thought it would be quite muddy but there was nothing in the end. We were far too soft with the setup."
"I was a bit cautious in some places in there but otherwise okay."
"Really bad for us to be honest. So many small cars went through between that the line is really horrible."
SS4
"I was struggling a bit in there. When the surface is hard the grip is really low and I struggled with that. I was losing the rear all of the time, a couple of wide slides, but I had fun. We are having fun and the car feels not so bad."
"I see a lot of positives in the car, of course tests are tests and it's a different game in a rally but we are doing our best."
"It's a really close fight, many cars with small gaps. This was a good stage for me, I'm enjoying this for sure!"
"It's just an amazing car, so fast. I'm still learning but I'm really enjoying."
"We touched some concrete in the first stage and the more you drive the more you start to lose the part."
"I'm struggling a lot and it didn't feel so good."
"Few times really on the limit but we tried to minimise the time loss."
"For some reason we lost the engine in the middle part but now it seems that it's coming back."
"It didn't feel good to be honest."
"Let's see how the guys come from behind, but we gave our all. It wasn't easy loop to open. There was one massive jump that I heard my neck cracking on landing. Hoping to get some Makaronilaatikko for lunch!"
SS3
"It's okay. Not easy but we enjoyed it. In some places I am too slow - I just need to find some performance. Let's continue."
"Not easy. We are losing a lot of time, the ruts are soft and it's not easy to keep the car in them."
"The car is not fantastic so it's difficult to find a rhythm."
"The top guys know exactly how to drive these cars here, but we are doing our best."
"I'm not driving very well."
"I overshot a junction."
"Hybrid is still off, we need to reset it in service."
"We could improve a little bit to get more speed."
"There is not too much motivation but we need to do it."
" I can feel that it's not quite there yet."
"It's crazy how much loose gravel there is, there is not much more I can do."
No hybrid
SS2
Rolled
Accident
"It was okay. Quite tricky to bring the rhythm but we will try to do our best and progress."
"It's not easy, the stage is tricky. Confidence is not there yet but let's see if we can find some tricks."
"We can be happy with the time and will try and keep this up for the rest of the morning loop."
"It's so fast but I'm trying to do my best!"
"I just need to step by step get my feeling and the confidence."
"I jumped too much and the hybrid went off. My mistake."
"It's not an easy stage to kick off."
"If there is nothing to lose then just bin it and let's see how far we get."
"A couple of small mistakes but otherwise okay."
"It's going to be really bad regarding cleaning. I was pushing all the time and I am using the road everywhere."
SS1
Broken suspension --> SuperRally
"I didn't stress too much about this one, it's a tricky stage so we just did a clean run through with no push. Tomorrow is going to be interesting, opening the road will be a big challenge it seems, there is a lot of loose gravel on the road on Friday's stages. We need to do our best and see where we are tomorrow."
"Scotty does a great job anyway, regardless of experience. I'm sure it's just a number and he's got many more in him!"
"It was okay but at the beginning I did two big mistakes, I had a half spin one time and overshot another time. It's okay, it starts tomorrow."
"It was nice to see all of the Estonian fans. The rally starts now - tomorrow will be going step by step to get a good feeling and then I will try to push."
"It's going to be fast, that's for sure. Plenty of flat-out sections and sections where the average speed is close to 160kph. It's fun driving it but it's frustrating if you get to the finish and the time isn't good. Everybody is on the edge and we know quite well the stages."
"Very excited, it's really nice to see so many fans here. Definitely a good feeling and hopefully we can do a great job tomorrow."
"We've been waiting for this for half a year and expectations are always high to perform here. We're just going to try to have fun and enjoy ourselves in the car."
"I like this one - it's really tricky and you need to be clean with your lines. Tomorrow will be much faster but I don't mind that! I hope it will be good."
"It's fantastic when you're dialled in with the car, you can just attack the stages. Estonia has always been a good one for us and I think we have a nice weekend ahead."
"The more I go through today, the more it hurts. It's really painful. A real kick in the balls."
"It was much more slippery than expected and 2x I was't clean on the driving.
"It's a super feeling to be back here. I was struggling quite a lot, it is really slippery, but there is a lot of power in this car."
"I was looking it up earlier and there are 1.3 million people in Estonia, it seems most of them are here!"
"On a right hander over a crest I hit something,"
Damaged rear suspension
"I have a fantastic team - it's been four or five hours since we rolled and now we have a brand new car!"