The high-speed Estonian stages delivered exactly what they’re known for - rapid crests, demanding corners, and punishing surfaces - and M-Sport’s crews were tested from start to finish in a rally that placed a premium on confidence and commitment.

The opening day was all about finding rhythm, with all three Rally1 crews - Munster, McErlean, and Sesks - easing into the demanding stage. A few overshoot moments for Munster and McErlean and a spin for Sesks on SS3 hinted at the challenge ahead, but each driver regrouped well. Munster battled a slow puncture on SS4, while McErlean began dialing in his Puma setup and gradually grew more comfortable on his first real fast-gravel outing in Rally1 machinery.

Sesks, having competed in Estonia in ERC machinery last year, capitalized on his Kambja stage knowledge with a standout performance on SS6 - setting the fourth-fastest time and matching local hero Ott Tänak.

The crews wrapped up the day in good spirits, with McErlean putting on a crowd-pleasing display at the Elva Linn super special, earning 93 points from the specially-placed drifting judges and topping the leaderboard in style.

At day’s end, Sesks led the M-Sport charge in ninth overall, with McErlean and Munster closely behind in tenth and eleventh respectively.

Saturday’s opening loop saw Munster and the team take on the task of road-cleaning, running first on the road. All crews nevertheless navigated the loop cleanly, though the early stages were made more difficult by slippery surfaces and inconsistent grip.

A small off for McErlean on SS12, where he slid into a ditch, was quickly recovered without damage. Meanwhile, Sesks continued his upward momentum, flying over 35 metres on SS13’s jumps and building pace throughout the day.

The day concluded with the return to the popular Tartu Vald super special stage, with all three crews completing the second full day of rally with only Super Sunday ahead of them, still sitting ninth, tenth and eleventh.

Sunday brought a final twist in the form of overnight rain, adding standing water in the opening stage to Munster’s existing challenge. Grip levels changed corner by corner on the wet opening stage, with all crews adopting a sensible strategy to get their cars to the finish.

The final pass over Kääriku for the Power Stage saw improved conditions, and the M-Sport trio brought their cars to the finish, having completed another key challenge in their WRC careers and finishing after an ultimately drama-free weekend. Sesks would finish eighth, McErlean ninth and Munster tenth.

M-Sport also celebrated a strong outing from Estonian driver Romet Jürgenson and co-driver Siim Oja, competing their home event in Rally2 machinery for the first time. The pair quickly found pace, winning SS5 and remaining in podium contention throughout Friday and Saturday morning amongst the other local talents, in touching distance from third. A solid run, including a win on the Tartu Vald super special, ultimately earned them a fifth overall finish - a commendable result in a stacked WRC2 field.

Richard Millener, WRC Team Principal, said:
“Estonia was always going to be a big challenge with the speed and level of commitment needed here. But the key here was development, not headlines. Josh, Martins, and Grégoire are all learning rally-by-rally, and the pace is coming through - especially in stages like Kambja and the jumps on SS13.

Romet also had a standout performance in front of his home fans. As a team, we’ve banked more valuable experience and look ahead to Finland with a clear focus on continued progress.”

Mārtiņš Sesks, eighth overall, said:
“It has been a really nice event, I think for us that’s the biggest take-away from the weekend. It’s been an impressive weekend for our sport and the fans have been amazing, it was really emotional in places to see all the flags. This is the main thing for us, now we go away to focus on Finland.”

Josh McErlean, ninth overall, said:
“It’s been a nice weekend and really cool to experience these roads in the Rally1 car, it's quite surprising what they can do and how fast you can commit to the roads! You have to really shift your mind so you can be on the pace straight away but I think we can build on that going into Finland. It's a proper childhood dream to go to Finland and compete at the top level of the WRC. So let’s go enjoy it and hopefully step up the pace there.”

Grégoire Munster, tenth overall, said:
“At the end of Rally Estonia, it's not the result we wanted for sure but this is due to a puncture on Friday and my overshoots in a few places, but I would say that considering we’ve been opening the road we’ve done quite well. Rather than changing the set up too much, we were just trying to drive and gain experience and mileage before going to Finland. We’ve had a lot of fans on these incredibly fast roads, and overall we’ve really enjoyed the week.”

Romet Jürgenson, fifth WRC2, 15th overall, said:
“The goal for us was to be in the top five here in Estonia and we managed that, so that's a really big positive. We showed some good pace in some stages and we got our first two WRC2 stage wins as well, which is a good achievement and was one of the goals for this year too. The speed in general was a bit up and down, so we need to analyse and see where we can improve, but overall we can be really happy. 

A big thanks to the whole M-Sport team and the FIA as well, this is a great opportunity for me and it's been one of my dreams to do this rally in WRC2 for a long time.”