Estonia: The Nordics already there

Traced a few kilometers north of the village of Otepää where the service park is located, the Räbi shakedown (3,81 km) had some surprises in store for the competitors. Contested under the sun, the start of the day saw locals Robert Virves and Georg Linnamäe climb to the top of the rankings. Back for the qualifying special, it was the rain that greeted the crews, greatly complicating the exercise.

With lots of standing water and the appearance of mud, the chances of experiencing aquaplaning were frequent and some pilots preferred not to take all the risks. Not playing in the championship, Linnamäe confirmed his initial time by setting the best time. This will allow him to choose his starting order tomorrow. It won't be easy. The Estonian will indeed have to ask himself if it is better to start behind to avoid being swept away or if it is more profitable to be among the first in order to limit the handicap of slush? Seeming more confident than in Poland with his C3 Rally2, Nikolay Gryazin moved into 2^e position ahead of Mikko Heikkilä. The other locals, Virves and Gregor Jeets completed the top 5.

Starting in the lead, Hayden Paddon couldn't do anything and settled for 14th^e time. Hardly better off, Mathieu Franceschi took 13^e place. The two candidates for the title risk finding themselves with bad starting orders tomorrow.

After the Tartu superspecial this evening (1,48 km), the competitors will have to complete 9 special stages for a total of more than 118 timed km.