Heikkilä Aims to Extend Swedish Success in Estonia

Mikko Heikkilä is competing in the upcoming weekend in the fourth round of the ERC, Delfi Rally Estonia. Heikkilä, who finished second in the previous round of the championship, sets out to continue the success seen in Sweden.  

Mikko Heikkilä, co-driven by Kristian Temonen, are set to tackle the fast gravel stages Delfi Rally Estonia building upon the successful ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia that rewarded the pair with their first ERC podium of the year. Competing with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 fielded by Italian team Step Five Motorsport, Heikkilä last competed in Estonia back in 2021, when the event was run as a WRC event and Heikkilä finished third in WRC3 category.

-The stages shouldn’t be too similar to those in -21, although I’d probably have a hard time remembering them and there really isn’t any reason to remember that event. According to reconnaissance videos the stages will have everything – faster and slower sections, and wider and narrower roads. We’ll see the route better as a whole only after recce, but the stages look very enjoyable. The level of competition has always been high here, with both ERC regulars and local drivers alike. It doesn’t really affect our performance however and it’s only positive to have many drivers on the grid, Heikkilä said.

The last event of the ERC calendar in Sweden was a successful one, and the car, prepared by Step Five, fit the driver superbly. To prepare for the Estonian gravel roads, Heikkilä’s pre-event tests aim to switch the setup of the car to fit the local conditions even better.

-Stages here should fit us and the car well. Our aim is to further improve on some details that we identified in Sweden. There should not be any major changes however, just some slight setup changes to accommodate the different gravel and road textures and likely deeper ruts, Heikkilä explains.

During the week ahead of ERC Estonia, it was confirmed that Heikkilä will be driving in both WRC Latvia as well as his home event, Secto Rally Finland.

-I’m really happy that we get to drive both Latvian and Finnish rounds of WRC, and a big thank you for that to our cooperation partners. I’m crossing my fingers that there won’t be any troubles and we get to drive all three events. This does not mean that we’d be going to Estonia to save anything, it’s flat out from the start. I don’t see the point of going to a rally if the goal is not flat-out, Heikkilä promised.

Delfi Rally Estonia is held in Otepää, Estonia in 5^th to 7^th of July. The rally consists of 14 special stages and 187,64 special stage kilometres.

Delfi Rally Estonia schedule

Friday 5.7. – 1,48 km

19:35 SS1 – Tartu Vald 1 - 1,48 km

Saturday 6.7. – 117,90 km

08:04 SS2 – Raanitsa 1 - 21,45 km

09:02 SS3 – Karaski 1 - 11,97 km

10:50 SS4 – Raanitsa 2 - 21,45 km

11:48 SS5 – Karaski 2 - 11,97 km

14:08 SS6 – Kanepi 1 - 10,04 km

15:31 SS7 – Maekula 1 - 14,68 km

17:19 SS8 – Kanepi 2 - 10,04 km

18:42 SS9 – Maekula 2 - 14,68 km

20:00 SS10 – Elva Linn - 1,56 km

Sunday 7.7. – 68,32 km

09:34 SS11 – Otepää 1 - 12,85 km

10:35 SS12 – Kambja 1 - 21,31 km

12:56 SS13 – Otepää 2 - 12,85 km

15:05 SS14 – Kambja 2 - 21,31 km Power Stage

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