Takamoto Katsuta entered the event second in the Rally1 championship standings and opened with a steady start, running inside the top seven before settling into sixth through much of Friday. His rally changed on the penultimate stage of the opening day when tyre damage dropped him down the order, forcing him to open the road on Saturday. Running first on loose gravel left Katsuta at a significant disadvantage, and he spent the remainder of the rally consistently posting stage times around 10th and 11th. He ultimately finished 10th overall, remaining 25 points behind championship leader Elfyn Evans heading into Rally Finland.
In WRC2, Takumi Matsushita and Shotaro Goto produced measured, mistake-free rallies across all 18 stages. Matsushita steadily climbed the order from 14th early in the event to finish eighth in the WRC2 Challenger classification and 10th overall in WRC2, making most of his gains across the final four stages. Goto followed a remarkably similar trajectory, running just behind Matsushita throughout the rally before finishing ninth in Challenger and 11th overall after a strong finish to the weekend.
Kanta Yanaguida was the highest-running Japanese driver during the opening stages in Rally3. After opening the rally third, he moved into second by SS3 and remained among the category frontrunners through much of Friday and Saturday. The closing stages proved more challenging as he gradually slipped down the order, eventually finishing seventh in the WRC3 classification.
While the results sheet did not produce a podium finish for the Japanese contingent, Rally Estonia highlighted three different approaches to a demanding weekend. Katsuta limited the damage after Friday's setback, Matsushita and Goto climbed steadily through WRC2 with consistent pace over the full distance, and Yanaguida demonstrated front-running speed before the final stages reshaped the Rally3 order. With Estonia complete, attention now turns to neighbouring Finland, where another high-speed gravel rally awaits.
