Both Toyota and Hyundai are popping the champagne after the companies blocked out the podium at the eighth round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship in Estonia.
The Finnish pair of 22-year-old Kalle Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen piloted their #69 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid to an overall victory in 2:36.03 across 300km of challenging terrain in Estonia, taking out 15 of the rally’s 21 special stages.
Hot on the heels of the #69 GR Yaris was the Belgian pairing of Thierry Neuville and Martjin Wydaeghe in their #11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, who finished 52.7 seconds behind the pace.
Hyundai snatched two podium finishes at the 2023 Rally Estonia thanks to Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm bringing their i20 N Rally1 Hybrid across the line 6.8 seconds later, edging out their nearest competitors in the #33 GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid by 7.3 seconds.
In spite of the double-podium finish, Hyundai remains in third place in the standings behind the two GR Yaris cars of Rovanpera, who commands a 55-point lead over the UK’s Elfyn Evans, with 170 points.
Evans, with 115 points, has a narrow three-point lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville chomping at his heels with 112 points, while Ford’s Ott Tanak sits in fourth place with 104 points.
With the eighth round of WRC action at Estonia wrapped up, there are five events left in the season including the Rally of Finland, Greece, Chile, Central Europe – which crosses Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic – and the season finale in Japan.
