The Rally Estonia feared Sunday rain, but he was still fastest on the day's opening stage
Photography by Toyota & DirtFish
Words by Luke Barry
Oliver Solberg feared the predicted rain that emerged on Sunday morning at Rally Estonia – but he went fastest anyway to extend his rally lead.
On his Toyota Rally1 debut, and first Rally1 start since 2022, Solberg came into the final day with a 21.1s advantage over Ott Tänak – but revealed on Saturday night that rain is the one factor that worried him given he’d not driven the car in those conditions.
Yet, the Swede was faster than anyone on Sunday’s opening stage, beating Tänak by 1.6s to extend his rally lead to 22.7s.
The road conditions were improving, but it was nevertheless an impressive statement.
“I don’t want rain, but hey that’s life,” said Solberg. “I was very nervous before this stage because I had no clue in the wet how it is, but the car was working very nicely. So far so good, but hopefully not so much rain coming because it’s tricky.”
Tänak had been fighting off Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville, but the pressure was released when Neuville earned himself a 10s penalty for a jump start, meaning he now trails Tänak by 18.6s.
“I had a bad stage,” Neuville said. “I didn’t trust the grip at all, so not having a good flow.”
Rain has complicated matters on the final morning
Kalle Rovanperä’s pace however was more impressive than it had been yesterday, meaning he’s now closer to Neuville (13.7s) than Neuville is to Tänak.
“First time driving on the road on this kind of condition on the tires, so beginning was quite careful but grip is quite good. At least now we know how it works,” reported Rovanperä.
Elfyn Evans has not been at the races so far at Rally Estonia, but the rain presented him with an opportunity he made use of.
The championship leader wasn’t “super impressed” with his run but went 8.4s quicker than team-mate Takamoto Katsuta to close just 5.2s behind sixth place.
“I don’t care about it,” Katsuta said. “We have issues so just drive as much as possible, let’s see what happens.”
Adrien Fourmaux is now a comfortable 14.6s ahead, despite damaging the front aero of his Hyundai as the car kicked over a crossroads jump. M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster experienced the same.
In terms of the Super Sunday standings, Solberg leads from Tänak, Rovanperä, Evans and Fourmaux.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Rally Estonia, Rally Estonia 2025, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 20, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/C0LzGWfn-SOLBERG08EST25tb303-780x520.jpg July 20, 2025
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