The cancellation of Rally Saudi Arabia from the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar means that Robert Virves and his co-driver Jakko Viilo have been crowned this year’s WRC2 champions.
Driving for Toksport Škoda, Virves has enjoyed a stellar season, claiming four consecutive WRC round victories this year. At last weekend’s Rally Chile, the Estonian took second place, further boosting his championship points tally.
Under WRC2 rules, where drivers count their best six scores from a maximum of seven nominated rounds, Finland’s Teemu Suninen was the only competitor who still held a mathematical chance of catching Virves after Chile. Suninen entered the upcoming Rally Sardinia to narrow the deficit and keep his title hopes alive, but the cancellation of the 14th and final round dashed his ambitions. WRC promoters decided not to replace the dropped Saudi Arabian event, leaving Suninen unable to overcome the 41-point deficit.
Speaking to DirtFish before Rally Chile, Virves admitted that sealing the crown while sitting on the sofa would feel somewhat unusual. “I agree it would be a bit strange, but obviously I don’t make the rules,” Virves remarked when the Saudi round was still in doubt. “You just have to play by the rules, and sometimes that’s how it plays out. I think Oliver [Solberg] watched the rally on the sofa with a helmet on one year to see how his championship turned out.”
Virves’s feat is also historic: he becomes the first Estonian driver to win the WRC2 world championship. The last time Škoda celebrated a WRC2 drivers’ crown was with Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen in 2023.
The Estonian will also line up at the upcoming Rally Sardinia completely pressure-free: in addition to the overall WRC2 crown, Virves already secured the WRC2 Challenger title on the gravel of Chile.