AFTER a trio of hot and rough gravel rallies in Portugal, Sardinia and Greece, Elfyn Evans is “looking forward to a very different character of rally for the next two events.”

The FIA World Rally Championship leader and his Toyota Gazoo Racing team will take on some of the fastest roads of the season as Rally Estonia (17-20 July) hosts the first of two high-speed gravel rounds in quick succession.

The forests of northern Europe now offer a significant change of pace with Estonia to be followed just two weeks later by Rally Finland – the fastest round on the calendar and a home rally for TGR-WRT.

Dolgellau’s Evans said: “We’re looking forward to a very different character of rally for the next two events, with some very fast roads.

“Although Estonia wasn’t on the calendar last year, it’s an event we have pretty good knowledge of and a nice one to be going back to with the high-speed nature of the stages.

“It’s important to have a good feeling in the car and our test last week was good for working through some ideas, but we also know the conditions we’ll face on the rally can depend a lot on the weather; hopefully there can be a chance of some rain to help us out opening the road on Friday.”

Halfway through the 14-round season, the team has a 65-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship whilst Evans remains on top of a close contest for the drivers’ title despite facing the disadvantage of sweeping the loose gravel roads on the last three rallies.

He will aim to be back on the podium on terrain he enjoys as a two-time winner in Finland, as will Finland’s own Kalle Rovanperä – the winner of the last three WRC rounds to be staged in Estonia.

Sébastien Ogier trails Evans by nine points but Estonia is not part of his partial schedule.

Returning to the WRC calendar after a year away, Rally Estonia is known for wide and flowing roads featuring plenty of jumps and crests.

The event remains based in the country’s second largest city, Tartu. The historic Town Hall Square hosts the ceremonial start on Thursday evening before an opening super special stage adjacent to the service park at the Estonian National Museum.

On Friday morning, a pair of stages north of Tartu are run twice before mid-day service.

In the afternoon the action moves south for two passes of the Kambja stage plus a street stage in Elva.

Saturday’s format is similar, with two stages run twice in the morning and another two repeated in the afternoon, before a return to the Tartu super special in the evening.

Three stages form Sunday’s route with Kääriku run a second time to serve as the rally-ending Power Stage.