Double podium finish in Rally Estonia | Hyundai N

2021.07.19

We have claimed a double podium finish in Rally Estonia, the seventh round of the 2021 WRC season, after a demanding 24-stage event for our three crews.

Craig and Paul equalled their best ever result for our team with second place, after a consistent and professional drive for the Irishmen in their first WRC event since Croatia.

“I am happy with how the weekend has gone, and I am satisfied with our performance,” said Craig. “We have carried good speed throughout the stages. I’ve enjoyed myself immensely from start to finish. All I need is a bit more time to go that extra one or two percent that I know we have within us.”

High five for Thierry and Martijn

Thierry and Martijn scored their fifth podium finish of the season with another third-place result. Our Belgians took five stage wins over the three-day event, including two joint fastest times with Ott and Martin on the final morning.

“It has been a long weekend with 24 challenging stages,” said Thierry. “Our main target coming here was to keep our closest rivals, Sébastien and Elfyn, behind and we were able to achieve that. From a team perspective, getting two cars on the podium is a positive to take away.”

Home heroes Ott and Martin saw their hopes of a home victory dashed on Friday as they were forced to retire due to a double puncture in SS4. However, there was no doubting their speed and talent on local gravel roads. The crew scored an impressive 11 stage wins over the weekend.

“All in all, not the weekend we wanted but I have to say we’ve had some great support from the fans, and we have had some new stages which have been interesting and at times demanding. We keep fighting.”

Powered up finale

Ott/Martin and Thierry/Martijn led a Hyundai 1-2 in the Power Stage to add important points for the championship. We hold second in the classification on 256 points, 59 points from the lead.

Our Team Principal Andrea summarised: “My thanks to Craig and Paul for a fantastic second place. Thierry has shown once again what kind of a fighter he is. Ott, too, has demonstrated his amazing speed, but that only makes his punctures on Friday even more regrettable. We look ahead to Ypres Rally Belgium and vow to keep up our hard work.”

Round 8 of the 2021 WRC season – Ypres Rally Belgium – takes place over the weekend of August 13-15.