With momentum building on gravel, the team now turns its attention to one of the fastest events on the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, where it will look to build on its previous success after claiming victory on Rally Estonia's WRC debut in 2020.

Rally Estonia begins a demanding run of fast gravel events that will test the precision and commitment of crews across flowing roads and high-speed jumps. Hyundai Motorsport arrives with Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux joined by Esapekka Lappi in the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1, as the Finn returns to the team for the first time since Safari Rally Kenya.

Based in Tartu, Rally Estonia features some of the quickest stages in the championship, rewarding confidence, accuracy and complete commitment. Fine margins often separate the leading crews, making consistency across the weekend just as important as outright pace. The 2026 edition features a shorter format, with Shakedown on Friday morning before an afternoon of stages, a marathon Saturday, and a two-stage sprint to the finish on Sunday. Having demonstrated the competitiveness of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on gravel in Greece, the team will be aiming to translate that performance into a strong points haul in Estonia.

Q+A with Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley

Acropolis Rally showed the pace of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, with the team leading much of the event before late setbacks. What positives can you carry into Rally Estonia?

"With such a positive start to the second half of the season in terms of performance, we can be confident that the fundamentals of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 are in place to support a strong push through the second half of the season. The speed of the crews was great, but equally impressive was the reliability. Despite being one of the hottest and toughest rounds of the season, Hyundai Motorsport enjoyed perfect reliability, and this gives us the confidence to push for the best possible performance heading into some of the fastest rallies of the year."

Rally Estonia marks the start of a run of fast gravel events. What will be the biggest challenge for the team this weekend?

"As always, the biggest challenge in Estonia will be our competitors. In 2026, Hyundai made a change to our nominated test road – we moved the test road from Finland to the south of France. The idea behind this was to help the team develop the parts required to compete on the four rough gravel rallies in the season, as well as to support the tarmac development programme. However, this means that we will not have the same opportunity for unlimited testing on the high-speed gravel roads and jumps that we see in Estonia and Finland. The team is planning three days of testing in Estonia before transferring to Finland to continue the programme, but we will be relying on the experience developed in previous years to support the changes made to the car for 2026. The other challenge will be the weather. The bulk of the testing has taken place in sunshine and dry road conditions; however, there is a chance that rain could fall in the week before the rally, which would significantly change the required set-up and could also give an advantage to the cars running at the front of the field."

Esapekka Lappi returns to the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at an event where he has plenty of experience. What does he bring to the team this weekend?

"Esapekka and Enni will bring their considerable experience of Scandinavian roads to the team. They have been competing in the Finnish National Championship for the last two seasons and, as they did in Sweden, will help the team establish the base set-up and the small changes required to make sure the car is able to compete at 100%. EP is a former Rally Finland winner and has very good experience of Estonia and Finland. As a team, we will be using every ounce of their experience as we compete against Toyota, who are based in central Finland. Hyundai has a good history in Estonia, finishing second, third and fifth in 2025, and with another year of experience in the Evo chassis, we will come to this rally with high hopes but realistic expectations."

Views from the crews 

Thierry Neuville said: “We’re heading into Estonia with confidence after two gravel rallies where we have consistently shown strong pace and fought for victory. Taking a win and a second place is encouraging, and our pre-event test also felt very positive. We’ve been competitive in Estonia in recent years, and if the conditions stay dry, they should suit us well. The key to this rally is finding the right balance between traction, precision and protection over the huge jumps, while having complete trust in the car. Our goal is clear: to fight for victory and score a lot of points to fight back in the championship.”

Adrien Fourmaux said: "Estonia is a completely different challenge to Acropolis, instead of rough, slow and technical roads, you're straight into some of the fastest stages on the calendar, so confidence is everything. I really enjoy this type of rally and we've completed a good test to prepare for it. We didn't get the result we wanted in Greece, but that's behind us now we are focused on the challenges ahead. Estonia gives us a fresh opportunity and if we can put together a clean and consistent weekend, I'm confident we have the potential to be competitive."

Esapekka Lappi said: “I am very much looking forward to being back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 again, especially as it will be the last outing of this car at these super-fast events, which is cool to be part of. We used the pre-event test to find the correct balance with differentials, suspension, and downforce. If we nail our pace notes, the rest should be easy. It is hard to know exactly where we are on fast gravel, although the recent results have shown the car has performed well on this surface. My hope is to be fighting higher than the top five.”