The eighth round of the World Championship kicks off over the weekend, with the landlord, Tanak, who will try to take advantage of the home field factor and seek a comeback on Rovanpera
– Milan
On the weekend of 23 July the eighth round of the World Championship will be held in Estonia on the fast dirt roads of the Baltic country. Ott Tanak will try to play home to boost his championship ambitions, in a championship currently under the control of Kalle Rovanpera. The WRC World Championship is preparing to face the fastest rally couple on the calendar: in fact, within two weeks, the championship stops in Estonia and Finland for two high-adrenaline races on earth. Estonian Tanak, currently fourth in the championship, is forced to win on home roads to keep the title race open. The Ford M-Sport home driver, who has won this rally 4 times, but only once with world championship value (in 2020), has triumphed only in Sweden this season and came back from sixth place in the Safari. As stated by Tanak, the team has worked hard to improve the Puma in view of the second part of the season, with the second car of the English team to be driven as usual by Pierre Louis Loubet.
rovanpera, the favorite
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Kalle Rovanpera proved to be at ease on the roads of Estonia, having in fact won the last two editions of the race at the wheel of the Toyota Yaris: last year, among other things, he was the author of an outstanding performance in the Power Stage, beating the first of his pursuers by 20 seconds. The championship leader hopes to find help from the rain on Friday, when he will be forced to open the way for his rivals. The Japanese squadron completes its line-up with Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, while the eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier will not be at the start.
HYUNDAI. SUNINEN MAKES DEBUT
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Important news from Hyundai, with Teemu Suninen returning to the top category after 3 years, taking the wheel of the third i20 Rally 1. The Finn convinced in the Rally 2 class and deserved the call to drive the orphaned car of the late Craig Breen. The Korean team hopes to fight for success with Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville. The Belgian has not brought home any points since the trip to Kenya, having been suspended for illegal reconnaissance carried out by his team.
RALLY ESTONIA, THE RACE ON TV
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The Rally of Estonia will start on Thursday 20 evening in the city of Tartu with a show stage and will end on Sunday 23, after 21 special stages for a total of 300 timed km. The race is visible in its entirety on WRC+ and Rally.TV, with some specials that will be broadcast live on Sky Sport. This is the detail:
- Thursday 20 July 19.00 (SS1) on Sky Sports Arena
- Saturday 22nd July 18.00 (SS16) on Sky Sports Action
- Sunday 23 July 8 o’clock (SS19) on Sky Sport Action and 12 o’clock (SS21, Powerstage) on Sky Sport Action
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