HIGH SPEED CHALLENGES AWAIT M-SPORT AT RALLY ESTONIA

Event: Rally Estonia | Round: 9/14 | Date: 17-19 July

M-Sport are ready to launch into the high speed forests of Rally Estonia next week after strong performances across the team on last month’s Acropolis Rally Greece, where Josh McErlean delivered his career-best performance and Jon Armstrong claimed his maiden WRC stage win. With changing conditions and fast stretches punctuated by technical, narrow passages through the trees, crews will need precision and commitment around the popular Tartu stages.

KEY EVENT STATS

• Surface: Gravel

• Base: Tartu

• Stages: 18

• Competitive Distance: 301.80 km

• Total Distance: 1,022.36 km

WEEKEND FOCUS 

• A clean, precise and committed drive is required in Estonia which, alongside Rally Finland, sees some of the highest average speeds in the World Rally Championship, with crews often exceeding 120kph. Smooth, flowing gravel, blind jumps and technical forest sections make it a true driver's rally, placing a premium on complete trust between driver and co-driver.

• Rally Estonia enjoys a compact schedule this year, with shakedown taking place on Friday morning, followed by the first special stages later that same day signalling a new-look format returning to the fan-favourite roads around Tartu in south-eastern Estonia. 

• All four M-Sport crews delivered strong performances in Greece, at one point placing three Ford Puma Rally1s inside the top six, and come to Estonia with confidence, primed and ready to take on the demanding, super-fast stages.

• Home star Romet Jürgenson takes on the familiar event in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 for the second time alongside co-driver Siim Oja, after coming fifth in the WRC2 category last year, with three WRC2 stage wins under his belt.

• Josh McErlean travels to Estonia buoyed by his recent career-best performance on Acropolis Rally Greece, and will head into the super-fast Estonian stages with confidence in order to deliver another strong result for the team.

• Jon Armstrong and Mārtiņš Sesks have strong Estonia experience between them across both WRC and ERC, with Armstrong tackling Estonia's high speeds in a Rally1 car for the first time, while Sesks brings existing Rally1 mileage to the fast gravel.

Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, said: "I'm very much looking forward to getting back to Estonia, where the fans are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable, and the rally brings incredible speed and imagery to highlight the skill of these WRC drivers. After a tough Rally Greece and the conditions we saw there, Estonia will be a different challenge, and I'm looking forward to seeing how our drivers can continue to build on the performances they showed last month. I'm also very much looking forward to seeing how Romet performs on his home rally in front of his home fans, which should be an incredible experience for him. It's the start of a very busy period of WRC, so it's exciting times ahead."

CREW LINE-UP

FORD PUMA RALLY1

#55 / Josh McErlean & Eoin Treacy

• Rally Estonia 2025 result: 9th WRC

• Acropolis Rally Greece 2026 result: 6th WRC

• Current championship position: 12th WRC

Josh McErlean said: “Estonia is always one of the fastest and most enjoyable rallies of the season, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there. Greece gave us a solid platform to build from, and the aim now is to carry that momentum into Estonia. I really enjoy these types of events, so hopefully we can keep improving and come away with another strong result.”

 #95 / Jon Armstrong & Shane Byrne

• Rally Estonia 2024 result: 6th ERC

• Acropolis Rally Greece 2026 result: 8th WRC

• Current championship position: 13th WRC

Jon Armstrong said: "I'm looking forward to going back to Estonia, I’ve been there twice in JWRC and also once in ERC with the Fiesta Rally2. The stages are completely flat out and the style of the surface is generally nicer for me as it’s a bit more sandy. It’s a good way to kick off the summer of speed in a Rally1 car!”

#22 / Mārtiņš Sesks & Renārs Francis

• Rally Estonia 2025 result: 8th WRC

• Acropolis Rally Greece 2026 result: 8th WRC

• Current championship position: 21st WRC

Mārtiņš Sesks said: “This is the time of the year when we are as close as possible to our home country, and happy to call Rally Estonia our home rally this year. We're hoping to see a lot of Latvian fans to feel as at home as possible! I’m looking forward to a great result here; I think we have a lot of positives to take from last year and we’re looking at having a competitive weekend in Estonia.”

FORD FIESTA RALLY2

#35 / Romet Jürgenson & Siim Oja

• Rally Estonia 2025 result: 5th WRC2

• Acropolis Rally Greece 2026 result: 

• Current championship position: 31st WRC 

Romet Jürgenson said: “Obviously, our home event in Estonia is one of the highlights of the season for us. There is a bit more pressure as well, but we have a lot of local support from our fans which definitely gives us this extra push to get the maximum out of ourselves and the car. 

“Looking at last year’s pace, I think the goal will be to be up there fighting with the top guys. The route itself has stayed the same over the last few years, so the advantage for the Estonians is decreasing as a lot of drivers have knowledge of these stages; it’ll be a very even fight with small margins. I’m looking forward to it.”

Published 10 July 2026