The 2020 Rally DirtFish will not take place following the confirmation of an Estonian round in September for the FIA World Rally Championship.
Rally DirtFish originally stepped in earlier this year when there were no high profile rally events scheduled to take place in August but the situation has now changed with the WRC set to return on 4-6 September with the inaugural Rally Estonia.
DirtFish CEO Justin Simpson, “Rally DirtFish in Otepää was born out of the idea that Estonia could still have a high-profile rally this year, even if it was not a WRC event. With our association to Ott [Tänak] and connections to the Estonian Autosport Union, we wanted to do whatever we could to bring WRC-level rallying to the fans.
“Now, with the highest-profile rallying in the world coming to Ott’s backyard, there’s no need to take away focus or resources from that. We are genuinely excited for Estonia and happy that rally fans there will see a WRC round this year.”
Simpson insisted that the Rally DirtFish concept will be back in the future: “After working through the organisation and promotion of the event, we’ve gotten a good taste for what a Rally DirtFish event could be and the opportunities that hosting our own rally presents.
“I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say that this isn’t the end of Rally DirtFish – on either side of the Atlantic.”
Reigning World Rally Champion Ott Tanak paid was set to compete in Rally DirtFish and has paid tribute to the Seattle Rally School’s efforts in helping out.
“It would have been nice to run Rally DirtFish and it would have been a cool event. But we have to focus to the WRC round.
“I want to thank Justin [Simpson] and his team for all the work they did to help and everything they had planned for Rally DirtFish. It’s good news that they’re ready to help out with WRC round. It’s going to be special to have the world championship coming in Estonia and I’m sure DirtFish will help make it a really interesting show – we can make some nice work together.”
