RALLY, RALLY GOOD

If you go down in the woods today...you're sure of a big surprise. Namely, a group of adrenalin-seeking drivers speeding down tight forest tracks in powerful rally cars. It takes grit, endurance and upper body strength to be a professional in the World Rally Championship.

- Dominic Bliss

The Estonian prime minister, Kristen Michal, is discussing tyres with Elfyn Evans, the leading rally driver in both Britain and the world.

A few feet away, glancing nervously around the thick woodland, is his bodyguard - a tiny microphone in his right ear and a sidearm clearly bulging beneath his grey sports jacket. Michal is wise to take precautions: after all, just a few miles to the east is the border with Russia.

The PM has come to the outskirts of Estonia's second city Tartu to support Rally Estonia, by far the biggest sporting event in his nation's calendar. Part of the FIA World Rally Championship, it's the eighth of 14 stops on the 2025 world tour.

A thick forest in the Baltic, right on the frontline between Vladimir Putin's and NATO's territories, may seem an unlikely venue for a motorsport event. But the terrain here - dirt and gravel tracks twisting through deciduous and pine trees as far as the eye can see - is perfect for rally racing. The pace is fast, the surface loose, allowing drivers to slide dynamically around the corners; and the fans, of which there are myriad, can view the action from key vantage points all along the route.

As the race proper hasn't yet started, Evans - a Welshman hailing from Snowdonia - offers Michal a ride in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The PM climbs into the co-driver's seat and, minutes later, he is experiencing the full-on visceral thrill of what it's like to be propelled along by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder direct-injection turbocharged engine. It may be Michal's first ride in an elite rally car, but Evans certainly doesn't sugarcoat it for the guest dignitary. On the straight sections, he looks to be approaching his car's top speed of around 125mph.