WRC: Oliver Solberg still leading after Saturday Rally Estonia stages
Solberg started the day with a 12.4s lead but faced a similar road position to his rivals. This placement would test the Swede, as he looked to repeat Friday's impressive pace on Estonia's fast gravel stages.
However, the 23-year-old, competing in a one-off drive in Toyota's Rally1 line-up, delivered an emphatic performance to complete the day's nine stages with his advantage over Hyundai's Ott Tanak growing.
Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Solberg added four more stage wins to his tally that stands at seven, after claiming his first career WRC stage win on Friday. Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson either took a stage win or were within 1.2s of the pace on each Saturday test, which outlined their ability to produce consistent speed.
Solberg won three of the four stages across the morning loop, before beating Hyundai duo Tanak and Thierry Neuville by 0.5s on the second pass through the jump-laden Otepää stage on Saturday afternoon. Three Sunday stages and the prospect of rain stand in the way of Solberg from claiming what would be an emotional breakthrough win.
'For sure [this was better than yesterday] as everyone had the same starting position and I could do the stages without any mistakes, win some stages and be clean and consistent,' said Solberg.
'It is not easy when you have these two guys [Tanak and Neuville] behind, and I haven't really figured out what I have done but I tried my best. Of course [I have thought about the win]. I have been thinking about how to give myself the best chance not to be caught and I was thinking they would catch me, but not yet.'
Battles throughout the field
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
While Solberg grabbed the headlines at the front, Tanak and Neuville were locked in an intense fight for second. Tanak started the day in second only for a couple of mistakes in stage nine resulted in the local favourite ceding the position to Neuville. The position changed hands on four more occasions throughout the day before Tanak took control by 4.0s at the end of the day.
'Obviously it has been frustrating since the testing we did before Estonia, so I had the feeling it would be a tough rally and we are having a tough rally,' said Tanak. "We need to push for that [second position for the championship points.]"
Kalle Rovanperä's hopes of a podium evaporated, as the Finn's struggles to gel with his GR Yaris and Hankook gravel tyres continued. A frustrated Rovanpera felt he'd maximised his package but was ultimately unable to pull himself into the battle. Rovanpera, who has previously dominated the last three WRC editions of the event, will head into Sunday in fourth, 26.5s adrift of third-placed Neuville in fourth.
'We are trying our best and at the moment there is not much else we can do,' said Rovanpera.
Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux delivered a series of strong stage times to emerge from a battle with Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta in fifth [+1m08.2s]. The pair were split by 2.8s at midday service before Fourmaux managed to pull clear of the Japanese, who had a mysterious issue with his GR Yaris.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans endured a miserable day mired in no man's land in seventh [+1m30.4s]. The Welshman was unable to extract the pace from his Toyota to climb the leaderboard.
'It is very frustrating [not to find progress] as there are four of us close together and we can't really make any impression on the guy further down the road,' said Evans.
When asked if there was something that could be learned from Solberg's set up, he added: 'He [Oliver] has something quite radical with his set up which is not an option for us.'
Joshua McErlean, Eoin Treacy, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Toyota's Sami Pajari ended the day 26.5s ahead of M-Sport-Ford's Mārtiņš Sesks to hold eighth [+2m14.5s], while M-Sport's Josh McErlean [+4m13.6s] and Gregoire Munster [+4m48.5s] rounded out the Rally1 field.
Estonia's Robert Virves topped the WRC2 field with a 26.5s margin from compatriot Georg Linnamae.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lakers star Luka Doncic's EuroBasket plans receive update
The post Lakers star Luka Doncic's EuroBasket plans receive update appeared first on ClutchPoints. Although he will soon be eligible to sign a lucrative contract extension, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic is committed to representing his country at EuroBasket this summer. Doncic, whom the Lakers acquired in February from the Dallas Mavericks, may be in the United States over the next week or so, possibly even overlapping when he officially becomes eligible for his extension. But it won't be for long, according to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein. 'The Lakers' Luka Dončić, I'm told, is scheduled to return soon to the United States for a long-planned Jordan Brand promotional tour for his signature sneaker line,' Stein posted on X, formerly Twitter. 'He's expected to join Slovenia's national team in early August to begin EuroBasket preparations.' Doncic reportedly has not prioritized signing the extension, which he can do as soon as Aug. 2. ESPN reporter Tim McMahon said earlier this summer that he could see Doncic holding off on inking a new deal until after EuroBasket, which tracks with Doncic's past; he did not sign his extension with the Mavericks until Aug. 10, 2021, two days after the conclusion of basketball portion of the Summer Olympics, in which Doncic and Slovenia participated. If Doncic indeed does wait to sign his deal until after EuroBasket, that means mid-September would be the most realistic time for his signature to finally hit paper. The premier European national team event begins Aug. 27, with Slovenia starting the tournament the following day in Katowice, Poland. The group stage is split up between Katowice, Tampere, Finland, Riga, Latvia, and Limassol, Cyprus. The entirety of the subsequent 16-team elimination bracket will be hosted in Riga. The event is set to end on Sept. 14, a little over two weeks before the start of Lakers training camp. Although there has been some doubt that Doncic, who was blindsided by being traded earlier in the year, would re-sign with the Lakers, it does appear as if the Slovenian star will do so. If not, then LeBron James' reported anger over the Lakers' purported preferential treatment of Doncic would be all for nothing. It would also almost certainly prompt mass chaos in the L.A. front office, which traded Anthony Davis and Max Christie in the Doncic deal and has since added Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia this offseason. Related: Bronny James set to make Drew League move Related: Warriors, Lakers, NBA expansion headline offseason fan mailbag
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
AS Monaco beats Arminia Bielefeld without a hitch
Never really worried defensively and clinical offensively, the Rouge et Blanc secured a third victory of their preseason against Arminia Bielefeld (0-3). They once again showed their seriousness. Facing Arminia Bielefeld, recently promoted to the German second division, AS Monaco perfectly controlled this match, winning 3-0 at the SchücoArena. Unbeaten after four warm-up matches, the Rouge et Blanc have still not conceded a single goal ahead of the three matches awaiting them this week.. Recap. ✍️ A second goal of preseason for Biereth At the start of this fourth friendly match, Adi Hütter positioned his team in a 4-4-2 formation, including Soungoutou Magassa's first start this season. Breel Embolo and Mika Biereth led the line in attack. And the latter was again effective in front of goal as it was he who opened the scoring with a shot at the near post to give himself his second goal of preseason (0-1, 24′). A new eleven at halftime The Danish striker then came close to doubling the lead shortly afterward, but failed to cut out a good cross from Kassoum Ouattara (26′). The Rouge et Blanc gradually gained the upper hand in the match, and our number 14 soon created another opportunity, but his shot was blocked (35′). However, the home side were wary of Tim Handwerker's attempt, which narrowly missed Philipp Köhn's post (38′). A goal down at halftime, the Monaco coach took the opportunity to change all his outfield players, including the returns of Christian Mawissa, Vanderson, and Folarin Balogun. Brunner and Akliouche make the difference It was a reshuffle that paid off immediately, as after a marvelous team move started by the Monaco goalkeeper, Paris Brunner doubled the lead with a header from Caio Henrique (0-2, 50′). It was only his first goal in La Diagonale jersey! The result was then definitively sealed 11 minutes later by Maghnes Akliouche following a quickly taken free kick (0-3, 61′). The Principality club's players were imperious in the second half, with Denis Zakaria (71′) and then Folarin Balogun twice (74, 77′) seeing their shots stopped by Jonas Kerksen, while Lucas Michal's shot went just wide (78′). At the other end, Philipp Köhn was reassuring in keeping out a long-range shot (87′). A third win and a fourth clean sheet This was the final chance in what was a perfectly controlled match for AS Monaco, who recorded their fourth clean sheet in as many matches, as well as their third win of the preseason. The Rouge et Blanc now face a busy week, starting with two matches against Torino at the Performance Center (Wednesday, 6 p.m., then Thursday at 10:30 a.m.), and a trip to Ajax (next Sunday, 2:30 p.m.). DAGHE MUNEGU!!! 🇲🇨 🗓️ Match details: Saturday July 26 2025 (15:00) – SchücoArena 🇩🇪 Preseason friendly: Arminia Bielefeld 0-3 AS Monaco Halftime: 0-1 Goals: Biereth (24′), Brunner (50′), Akliouche (61′) for AS Monaco Bookings: Young (41′) for Bielefeld ; Magassa (16′), Golovin (23′) for AS Monaco AS Monaco (First half) : Köhn – Teze, Singo, Kehrer ©, Ouattara – Minamino, Magassa, Camara, Golovin – Embolo, Biereth AS Monaco (Second half) : Köhn – Vanderson, Dier, Mawissa, C. Henrique – Akliouche, Bamba (Bouabré, 88e), Zakaria, Michal – Brunner, Balogun Substitutes: Lienard, Majecki, C. Henrique, Dier, Mawissa, Salisu, Vanderson, Akliouche, Bamba, Bouabré, Zakaria, Balogun, Brunner, Michal
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nuggets' Nikola Jokic's agent sparks rumors with LeBron James ‘big plans' tease
The post Nuggets' Nikola Jokic's agent sparks rumors with LeBron James 'big plans' tease appeared first on ClutchPoints. Nikola Jokic has till now been a one-team star. This is despite the fact that modern NBA has seen some major teamups, and some of them have involved names like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Now 40, James is still looking for that elusive fifth ring, and is at a crossroads with the Los Angeles Lakers. Having taken up his player option for the upcoming season, the Lakers look determined to build around Luka Doncic for the present and the future. Amidst it all, none other than the Serbian Nikola Jokic's agent was seen hanging out with James at a picturesque destination. On Instagram, the Denver Nuggets' superstar longterm agent Miško Ražnatović posted two photographs alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter on a boat in Saint Tropez. However, the caption elevated a simple vacation post into something far more sinister. 'The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026! @kingjames @mavcarter,' BeoBasket's Raznatovic wrote. LeBron James is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the coming season. The Lakers have shown signs of wanting to move on from The King to instead focus on building around Luka Doncic. With James surely in the twilight of his career, another big move, the last of his career, may be on the cards. Considering the hue and cry surrounding his future, Nikola Jokic's agent seemed well aware of what he was doing with the post's caption. A potential Jokic-LeBron teammate does not only make financial sense considering the Nuggets are expected to have enough cap space in 2026. It will also be a war cry for the rest of the NBA considering two of the greatest players the league has ever seen can potentially team up together. That in itself may force the Nuggets' hand in the future, considering the Lakers look likely to move on and focus on younger players who match Doncic's timeline.
