TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto took the chance to gain good experience driving fast gravel roads in the GR Yaris Rally2 at Rally Estonia on July 5-7.
Rally Estonia has been a regular event in the FIA World Rally Championship in recent seasons, but this year was running as a round of the FIA European Rally Championship, where cars like the GR Yaris Rally2 form the top category. The event is known for its fast and flowing roads, similar to those found in Finland, but these are mixed with narrower and more technical sections. With a soft and sandy surface, these sections in particular can become heavily rutted by the second pass of each stage.
This would be the first rally on fast gravel roads in four-wheel drive machinery for Yamamoto. Unfortunately, Hikaru Kogure was not able to join him in competition while he recovers from a collarbone injury diagnosed following his last event in Sardinia. He was still able to take part in the pre-event reconnaissance to discover the stages and will be ready to return to action soon.
The rally began on Friday evening with a short super special stage in Tartu before a full day of nine stages on Saturday making up 117.84 competitive kilometres. Yamamoto, co-driven by Marko Salminen, was running at the rear of a competitive 20-car Rally2 field through Saturday and experienced a wide range of conditions including deep ruts, particularly on the four stages that were driven twice. Still, he was able to post some encouraging times and complete the day cleanly in 13th overall.
On Sunday, with the road order reversed, Yamamoto experienced different conditions again running third on the road as one of the drivers cleaning a line through the loose gravel for the rest to follow. As on Saturday, heavy rain also created muddy conditions in places, especially on the rally-ending Power Stage, but Yamamoto reached the finish without issues in 12th position overall.
Results:
- 1 Georg Linnamäe/James Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)1h44m33.1s
- 2 Robert Virves/Craig Drew (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2)+2.2s
- 3 Nikolay Gryazin/Andris Mālnieks (Citroën C3 Rally2)+1m11.2s
- 4 Mads Østberg/Patrik Barth (Citroën C3 Rally2)+1m23.2s
- 5 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2)+1m59.2s
- 6 Jon Armstrong/Eoin Treacy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+2m20.1s
- 12 Yuki Yamamoto/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)+4m30.2s
