Robert Virves (born 8 July 2000) is an Estonian rally driver. He won the 2022 Junior World Rally Championship. Virves competes for Toksport WRT in the World Rally Championship. In 2026 he won the WRC2 title, becoming the first Estonian driver to do so.
Career 2022 At the Rally Estonia, Virves set a new record with most stage wins in the Junior WRC class in a single rally event. He won 17 stages, one more than Sébastien Ogier at the 2008 Jordan Rally.
After winning the Acropolis Rally Greece, Virves become the 2022 FIA Junior WRC Champion.
2023 For winning the 2022 JWRC championship he earned six rallies with Ford Fiesta Rally2 car, supported by M-Sport. He also partnered with RedGrey Team to participate in more rallies outside World Rally Championship. His 2023 World Rally Championship season mostly was a failure. Finishing in points only in two rounds out of six with his best result in Estonia, when he finished in sixth place in WRC2 class. He ended the season with two retirements in Finland and Greece and leaving him in 28th place overall in WRC2 class.
2024 Having trouble of finding sponsors, Virves made his first start of the season in Rally Sardegna. He finished both rallies in Sardegna and Poland in eleventh place overall, but in Poland he got his first WRC2 podium finishing in third place. Showing great speed and consistency he also got to drive in Finland. In Finland he was holding third place when his bonnet came up during the stage and lost many places. After that the Estonian rally fans started a campaign to fund Virves driving in Greece. Virves was fighting for the victory in Greece and finished the rally exactly the same time as Sami Pajari. Since Pajari was faster than him in the SS1, Virves was left second. Regardless, he finished the rally in fifth place overall.
2025 In January 2025, it was announced that Virves signed a contract for a full season drive in 2025 WRC with Toksport WRT. He had a terrible start to the season as he had not scored a single point after Portugal. Virves finally scored his seasons first points in Sardegna and Greece, finishing seventh and eighth in WRC2 class. For next round in Estonia in his home event, Virves won the rally in front of Linnamäe and took eight stage wins. It was his first win WRC2. Virves scored another podium in Finland, finishing third. In Rally Paraguay he was holding third place, but he had to change a tire on the penultimate stage which dropped him to fifth place.
2026 Virves extended his contract with Toksport and continued driving with Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the WRC. He made his first start of the season at Rally Kenya where he finished fifth overall and winning the rally in WRC2 class, which was his second win in WRC2. He went on to win the WRC2 category at the Acropolis Rally and at his home event, Rally Estonia, recording third win of the season and increasing his career total to four WRC2 wins. On 17 September 2026, the FIA and WRC Promoter withdrew Rally Saudi Arabia from the championship calendar without a replacement, making Rally Italia Sardegna the season finale. As WRC2 drivers count their best six results from seven nominated events, the removal of the round left Teemu Suninen, the only driver still mathematically in contention and 41 points behind, unable to close the gap. Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo were therefore confirmed as the 2026 WRC2 champions before the final round. He is the first Estonian driver to win the WRC2 title, and the first Škoda driver to do so since Andreas Mikkelsen in 2023.
Rally victories WRC2 victories # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 2025 Rally Estonia 2025 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 2 2026 Safari Rally 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 3 2026 Acropolis Rally 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 4 2026 Rally Estonia 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 5 2026 Rally Finland 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
WRC2 Challenger victories # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 2025 Rally Estonia 2025 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 2 2026 Safari Rally 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 3 2026 Acropolis Rally 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 4 2026 Rally Estonia 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 5 2026 Rally Finland 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 6 2026 Rally Chile 2026 Jakko Viilo Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
JWRC victories # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 2022 Acropolis Rally 2022 Julia Thulin Ford Fiesta Rally3
Other notable victories # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 Rally Estonia Nationals 2024 2024 Craig Drew Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
Results WRC summary SeasonTeamStartsVictoriesPodiumsStage winsDNFPointsFinal result 2020 Private 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2021 Private 5 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2022 Private 5 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2023 M-Sport 6 0 0 0 3 0 NC 2024 Private 4 0 0 0 0 7 19th 2025 Private/Toksport 9 0 0 0 2 0 NC 2026 Toksport 9 0 0 1 0 19 13thTotal 39 0 0 1 5 26
WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points Robert Virves Ford Fiesta Rally4 MON SWE MEX EST TUR ITA MNZ NC 0 Autosport Team Estonia Ford Fiesta Rally4 MON FIN CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRE FIN ESP MNZ NC 0 Starter Energy Racing Ford Fiesta Rally3 MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRE NZL ESP JPN NC 0 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta Rally2 MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN NC 0 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHI EUR JPN 19th 7 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN ESP NC 0 Toksport WRT POR ITA GRE EST FIN PAR CHL EUR JPN SAU Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA 13th 19 Season still in progress.
WRC-2 results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points 2023 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta Rally2 MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN 27th 10 2024 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHI EUR JPN 10th 45 2025 Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN ESP POR ITA GRE EST FIN PAR CHL EUR JPN SAU 5th 75 2026 Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA 1st 117 Season still in progress.
WRC-2 Challenger Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points 2023 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta Rally2 MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN 15th 24 2024 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHI EUR JPN 8th 54 2025 Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN ESP POR ITA GRE EST FIN PAR CHL EUR JPN SAU 3rd 92 2026 Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA 1st 142
ERC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points 2022 M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 PRT1 PRT2 ESP1 POL LAT ITA CZE ESP2 50th 4 2023 RedGrey Team Ford Fiesta Rally2 PRT16 CAN POL LAT SWE ITA CZE HUN 26th 19 2024 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 HUN CAN SWE EST ITA CZE GBR POL 18th 28 2025 Robert Virves Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 ESP HUN SWE POL ITA CZE GBR CRO 26th 18
JWRC results/WRC-3 Junior Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 WDC Points 2020 Robert Virves Ford Fiesta Rally4 SWE EST ITA MNZ 9th 17 2021 Autosport Team Estonia Ford Fiesta Rally4 CRO POR EST BEL ESP 5th 78 2022 Starter Energy Racing Ford Fiesta Rally3 SWE CRO POR EST GRE 1st 130
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