Elfyn lacks ultimate pace in Estonia & slips to second

Sixth-placed finish knocks Welsh WRC star behind Tanak in title fight

Elfyn endured another tough gravel event at Rally Estonia, slowed initially by road position but then he struggled with overall pace to finish sixth and lose the championship lead by just one point.

There was significant road cleaning on the opening day, with the high-speed roads around Tartu holding quite a bit of loose gravel despite heavy rainfall in Estonia over the last few weeks.

Elfyn was unable to match the pace of the leaders across the opening day, which saw loops including both first and second pass stages. The afternoon was even more difficult than the morning with the dry conditions, the cleaning effect and not having a brilliant feeling in the car, and he ended the day in seventh place.

Saturday saw a little improvement, brought about thanks to a combination of both road position and car set-up tweaks. The pace improved a little but Elfyn still couldn’t match the leading drivers who extended the gap thanks to a fierce battle for the podium positions at the front.

Perseverance into the final day and some damp conditions overnight were a welcome helping hand on Sunday’s final three stages. Elfyn’s pace improved thanks to a much more positive feeling and he moved up to sixth. 

But it was too little too late and although he did take away some good points from the weekend, it wasn’t enough to hold off the hard-charging Ott Tanak who slipped into the championship lead by just one point.

Similar high-speed stages await for the next round when the battle moves to the iconic Rally Finland on 1-3 August, the home event for Elfyn’s Toyota Gazoo Racing team.