[WRC] Delfi Rally Estonia 2025

[focus206]

I said earlier in the thread, I think the closest I can think of was Makinen in Finland ‘94. He had done some rallies in the top class with Mazda and Nissan with little to shout about, but Ford gave him a car for Finland after Delecour’s accident and he basically did what Oliver has just done.

Other examples:
Safari specialist Ian Duncan winning Safari 1994 in works Toyota.
Mats Jonsson winning Sweden 1992 and 1993 with Toyota Sweden (only Sweden entered in '92, Sweden and RAC in '93)
Gianfranco Cunico winning Sanremo 1993 with Ford Italy (was only doing Italian championship)
Tony Fassina winning Sanremo 1979 with a semi works Lancia Stratos (was also doing only Italian championship)

[doubled1978]

Other examples:
Safari specialist Ian Duncan winning Safari 1994 in works Toyota.
Mats Jonsson winning Sweden 1992 and 1993 with Toyota Sweden (only Sweden entered in '92, Sweden and RAC in '93)
Gianfranco Cunico winning Sanremo 1993 with Ford Italy (was only doing Italian championship)
Tony Fassina winning Sanremo 1979 with a semi works Lancia Stratos (was also doing only Italian championship)

I discounted the African rallies back then because they were so tough, not really the same comparison. Didn’t Alain Orielle win one in a Group N Renault 5?
Jonsson and Cunico were definitely surprises, although I wouldn’t count them in the same way I would Oliver and Makinen. They were both experienced guys and the rallies they won didn’t have the best entries. Jonsson can say he went out and beat Kankkunen in the works car though. Cunico was only really against the works Fords, and they both blew up. Delecour was miles ahead when his engine went.
Fassina was a bit before me.
Oliver and Makinen went out and beat the best on pace in one-off drives, that to me makes them very special.

[SubaruNorway]

Almost lost for words after this week, decided last minute to go here and then we end up with a win for Oliver!

Here's my video, had a great time meeting friends on almost every stage as always!
https://youtu.be/t4isDEoDKmk?si=K3n4KQw1NK8Qg_Yx

[meh]

Almost lost for words after this week, decided last minute to go here and then we end up with a win for Oliver!

Basically, I came here to congratulate you, SubaruNorway, for your last-minute decision to witness Rally Estonia to support Solberg, and you were able to be part of such a historic moment!

The Shakedown showed a promise that something big may happen. The first proper stage SS2, showed that it is going to happen.

Why was I quite sure:
* he showed the speed that others were not able to show with proper push
* In Rally2, he has learned and practiced to keep the lead and drive under pressure
* The stakes were too high, it would be stupid to take too many risks and do something silly, but it also gave him huge pressure, and he delivered!

For sure, in a rally, everything can happen - a proper masterclass from Oliver.

The main surprise for me was that Solberg was able to fly with the Toyota, while Rovanperä and Evans were not.

Other comments Rally1:
* Tänak - can take 2nd places after the best Toyota 3 times in 4 rallies is quite some consistency, taking into account that he complains about the car a lot
* Neuville - maybe I'm stuck in old dogmas, but his speed was a bit surprise. Or maybe we should use Tänak's perspective and say that we should be surprised how bad were Tänak, Rovanperä etc compared to others. He seemed to enjoy the stages.
* Rovanperä - if there could be no Solberg in the rally, quite many could say that Toyota is bad, because even Rovanperä can not match Hyundais. Made a proper push on PowerStage, but otherwise, he is still lost. 2 years ago, he seemed unbeatable, and now he struggles to get the car working on gravel. Most likely, he is waiting for tarmac rallies already. I guess his ego or motivation got quite some kick from Solberg - "you see, the car is working well".
* Evans - he lost his speed quite some rallies ago, but got away with a lack of speed if we watch the scored points. This time, he did not gain positions because of the problems or retirements of others. To have a chance for the title, he needs to start driving again. One could even argue that he could be behind Taka and Pajari if they did not have problems. Most likely also struggles with the car setup like Rovanperä.
* Fourmaux - maybe I expected a bit more from speedwise, but in the big picture, I think he did his job well.
* Pajari - his future perspectives in the team got some new aspects for sure. I just wonder, if he keeps learning at a safe pace, can you learn the fast pace that way, or do you just get stuck in the safe mode?
* Takamoto - pity that he had problems, but even without that, I expected a bit more than 6th fastest stage times on average
* Sesks - I think he hoped a bit more, first comments at the stage end were in a bit different tone compared to later when reality hits in. Hard to say anything as I/we don't have any idea how competitive the car is.
* Munster and McErlean - they had their own tasks to do, although most of the others struggled to find the setup M-Sport is far behind everyone.


Rally2 - Virves dominated the field, and the job was well done. Yes, we did not have the usual Rally2 big names like Solberg, Rossel, Greensmith and Dapra - but who to blame?

Really interesting to see Rally Finland now - everyone in Rally2 got extra motivation to fight with Solberg now, because since Rally Estonia, they don't beat just a leader of Rally2, but The Guy Who Dominated In Rally1. We can also expect that Fins (Korhonen, Heikkilä, Lindholm, Latvala) are probably stronger in Finland than they were in Estonia. It will be interesting.

Rally as an event seems to be a master class again, hats off to Aava and the team. Yes, there are also things to be improved, and yes, this is what the team does for every next rally. Keep going!

PS, DirtFish - if you're going to make articles again based on my comments in the forum here, you should point to the source.

[trykmann]

* Neuville - maybe I'm stuck in old dogmas, but his speed was a bit surprise. Or maybe we should use Tänak's perspective and say that we should be surprised how bad were Tänak, Rovanperä etc compared to others. He seemed to enjoy the stages.

We maybe have to reconsider Neuville's pace on high speed events. Now when he had a more competitive car, then the speed was speed there, previously the Hyundai was just so bad and it didn't give him the confidence.

[EstWRC]

We maybe have to reconsider Neuville's pace on high speed events. Now when he had a more competitive car, then the speed was speed there, previously the Hyundai was just so bad and it didn't give him the confidence.

He has said himself that the testing now in Finland at their base has given him more understanding how to drive on those fast rallies.

Seems he really found something on Saturday with the car.

[EstWRC]

Almost lost for words after this week, decided last minute to go here and then we end up with a win for Oliver!

Here's my video, had a great time meeting friends on almost every stage as always!
https://youtu.be/t4isDEoDKmk?si=K3n4KQw1NK8Qg_Yx

Thank you for coming and awesome video like always!

Congrats on the Oliver win!

[CeskyOndra]

He has said himself that the testing now in Finland at their base has given him more understanding how to drive on those fast rallies.

Seems he really found something on Saturday with the car.

Yeah, but when it comes to being wet, Hyundai is miles behind Toyota.. We have to hope for dry Finland..

[satnav]

Yeah, but when it comes to being wet, Hyundai is miles behind Toyota.. We have to hope for dry Finland..

Thats not the forecast atm, looking like there's going to be rain