› With their third WRC2 win of the season, the Estonians climb to second position overall in the WRC2 drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings.
› Their Toksport WRT team-mates Emil Lindholm/Gabriel Morales take fourth position in WRC2 at the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
› Five Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crews finish inside the top ten of the WRC2 category.
Tartu (EST), 19 July 2026 – Three out of three: Following their WRC2 victories at Safari Rally Kenya and Acropolis Rally Greece, Robert Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo also won the category at Rally Estonia. Sharing a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of team Toksport WRT, the local heroes led WRC2 at their home event from the second stage onwards.
Based in the country’s second biggest city, Tartu, Rally Estonia is one of the fastest gravel events in the FIA World Rally Championship. The 18 stages featured wide, flowing forest roads with multiple big jumps, as well as narrower, slower sections. Due to the condensed itinerary for this year's event, there was not the usual warm-up on Thursday. Instead, shakedown plus seven stages all were crammed into Friday.
Mikko Heikkilä and his co-driver, Kristian Temonen, were the fastest WRC2 crew to set off. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of team TGS Worldwide topped the time sheets after the first stage. However, the Finns were overtaken by the Estonian crew of Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo just a few kilometres later. The local heroes powered their Toksport WRT-run Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 into the category lead after the second stage and never looked back.
But it wasn’t a walk in the park for the only crew in the WRC2 field with a 100 per cent winning margin. After roughly 100 stage kilometres of the Friday leg, the top six crews in WRC2 were separated by a mere ten seconds. Sharing Toksport WRT’s second Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Emil Lindholm and co-driver Gabriel Morales held fifth position only 7.8 seconds back. Mikko Heikkilä/Kristian Temonen followed in sixth with Patrick Enok and co-driver Silver Simm right behind them with the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 of team Printsport.
The Saturday leg with another roughly 150 competitive kilometres didn’t change the situation significantly. Robert Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo, defended their WRC2 lead by winning three more stages. Meanwhile, the Finnish-Brazilian duo of Emil Lindholm/Gabriel Morales, as well as Mikko Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen, each climbed one position. New in the mix were reigning WRC Junior Champions Mille Johansson and Johan Grönvall. The Swedish Škoda crew from team MS Munaretto overtook Patrick Enok and Silver Simm to take sixth position. The sixth Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the WRC2 top ten was another TGS Worldwide car. Lauri Joona and co-driver Antti Linnaketo reached the day’s finish eighth in WRC2.
Robert Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo maintained their lead also during the two stages on Sunday and celebrated their third WRC2 victory of the season. „Crazy! I don't know where to start. This was definitely the most difficult rally of my career so far. We gave it our all from start to finish. This is my daughter's first WRC rally. So, there was no option for us but to win. Massive thanks to Toksport WRT for another faultless event“, Robert Virves beamed on the podium. It was the pairings second WRC2 home victory in a row.
With their third victory from as many WRC2-nominated events, Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo climbed to second position in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ overall standings. The victory – and 10th position overall – also earned them a prize money of 25,000 Euro from the WRC Promoter for finishing as best Estonian competitor.
Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo were the first of five Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crews to finish in the top ten of the WRC2 category at their home event. Emil Lindholm/Gabriel Morales finished fourth, followed by Mille Johansson/Johan Grönvall in fifth place. Patrick Enok/Silver Simm took sixth place, and Lauri Joona/Antti Linnaketo rounded off the strong results for the Czech brand by finishing seventh.
Mikko Heikkilä and Kristian Temonen were unlucky on Sunday morning: The Finns were forced to retire after a heavy landing following one of the big jumps broke a shock absorber. Jan Solans and his co-driver Rodrigo Sanjuán, who had come to Estonia hoping for a top position, also didn’t score points. The Spaniards rolled their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 run by team PH.Ph during the third stage.
Number of the rally: 113.3
The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew of Robert Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo won WRC2 with an average speed of 113.3 kph across the 18 stages. That’s 1.3 kph faster than last year, making Rally Estonia the second-fastest event of the season. Rally Finland will be next, where in 2025 the WRC2 winners reached an average of 123.1 kph.
Rally Estonia (EST), 17-19 July 2026,
9th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Result WRC2
1 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (EST/EST), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 2:39:49.6 hours
2 Teemu Suninen/Janni Hussi (FIN/FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +7.6 seconds
3 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (FIN/FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, +8.8 seconds
4 Emil Lindholm/Gabriel Morales (FIN/BRA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +51.3 seconds
5 Mille Johansson/Johan Grönvall (SWE/SWE), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +1:48.4 minutes
6 Patrick Enok/Silver Simm (EST/EST), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +2:02.4 minutes
7 Lauri Joona/Antti Linnaketo (FIN/FIN), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +2:11.5 minutes
Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 9 of 14 events)
1 Roope Korhonen (FIN), Toyota, 79 points (from 5 rallies)
2 Robert Virves (EST), Škoda, 75 points (from 3 rallies)
3 Alejandro Cachón (ESP), 61 points (from 5 rallies)
Standings WRC2/Teams (after 9 of 14 events)
1 Toksport WRT, Škoda, 210 points
2 Lancia Corse HF, Lancia, 163 points
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, Ford, 45 points
4 2C Junior Team, Citroën, 15 points
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