Rally Estonia – SS1: Thierry Neuville first leader

The champion shows his teeth! After a timid start to the season, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) won the first special of the Rally of Estonia this Thursday evening in Tartu. The Belgian handled his i20 to get ahead of the Toyota Elfyn Evans by just 0.5s. Championship leader, the Welshman will have the honor of opening the road on Friday with a very provisional position of second overall.

However, he will have to be wary of the return of the local stage, Ott TänakThe Estonian had a great first special, finishing third, 0.6s behind his teammate Thierry Neuville. Winner of the Acropolis Rally – Hyundai's first victory this season – the 2019 world champion is keen to do as well on his home roads.

The start of the Estonian Rally, on the other hand, was less positive for the third i20, in the hands ofAdrien fourmauxThe Northerner had to settle for 10th place, the worst of the Rally1s with the exception of the three Ford Pumas of Joshua McErlean (13th), Grégoire Munster (14th) and Mārtiņš Sesks (16th).

On the other hand, the evening was a success for rookie Oliver Solberg, who finished 7th in his Rally1 debut with Toyota. Peter Solberg's son finished ahead of his teammate Sami Pajari, but behind Robert Virves' astonishing Škoda Rally2 (5th). The Estonian had the advantage of being on home soil and was the first leader in WRC2.

Finally, the fastest man in the Shakedown, Kalle Rovanperä, finishes this first day where the gaps are very small with the fourth fastest time. The serious stuff will begin this Friday morning with seven special stages on the program, to be followed live in full text on AUTOhebdo.fr. ES2 will be launched at 8:16 a.m. French time.

WRC – Rally Estonia
The classification of SS1

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