Kalle Rovanperä opened up a 15.7sec lead over local rising star Mārtiņš Sesks at Tet Rally Latvia as the two youngsters stole the show on Friday.
Latvia’s FIA World Rally Championship debut marks something of a homecoming for the 23-year-old Finn, as it was on the Baltic nation’s roads that he started his first-ever rally at the age of 12.Helped by his stage win on Thursday’s opener at Biķernieki Track in Rīga, which attracted a sell-out crowd, Rovanperä was never headed on Friday and won four of the day’s seven super-fast gravel road tests in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.But it was 24-year-old hotshot Sesks, contesting only his second event in rallying’s highest echelon and utilising hybrid power for the first time in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, whose performance raised more eyebrows.Sesks, who is co-driven by fellow Latvian Renārs Francis, reaffirmed that the future is here now when he grabbed his first-ever WRC stage win on the day’s second stage at Tukums, passing eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier in the process. And, as if that weren’t enough for the 24-year-old, he backed it up with another fastest time on the very next test.“It’s amazing,” said Sesks, who ended this 120km leg 5.9sec clear of third-placed Toyota man Ogier. “It’s been so emotional today, and yesterday as well. I think these next two days will be the same.”
Takamoto Katsuta’s all-in approach to the Talsi finale helped the Toyota driver pass Ott Tänak and claim fourth overall. He ended 11.6sec adrift of Ogier with M-Sport Ford man Adrien Fourmaux, who also overtook Tänak in the same stage, 5.3sec behind.
Tänak, meanwhile, fell from fourth to sixth after a challenging day. The Estonian reported a lack of confidence early on as well as a brake issue which he fixed on the roadside after the penultimate stage.
Elfyn Evans, currently second in the points, trailed the leaders by more than 50sec in seventh. Although he was not hit as hard as championship leader and road-opener Thierry Neuville, the Toyota ace was second in the starting order and struggled to find traction with no real clean line to follow.
Tyre damage cost Esapekka Lappi a handful of seconds on SS5 but the i20 N driver was quick to point out that his main problems lay “between the steering wheel and the seat”. He dropped back to 10th after SS8, languishing behind Grégoire Munster and Neuville.
Solberg supreme in WRC2 on Friday
Oliver Solberg led WRC2 by more than half a minute despite reporting a strange feeling aboard his Toksport WRT-entered Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Friday.
The Swede, who currently lies third in the championship standings, is already on the path towards claiming his second WRC2 victory of the season after he romped to fastest times on six of Friday’s seven super-fast stages, ending 31.1sec clear of closest challenger Mikko Heikkilä.
Despite dominating the timesheets, however, Solberg struggled with a lack of traction leading to plenty of slides throughout the day, and he even dialled back his speed in the afternoon to compensate for it.
Heikkilä, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for what is his second WRC outing of the season, was engaged in a tight scrap with Josh McErlean in the morning. Their duel came to an end when the Irishman ran wide and rolled his Škoda on SS6, dropping more than a minute as spectators pushed the car back onto its wheels.
McErlean’s mishap opened the door for Rally Poland winner Sami Pajari to claim third. He trailed fellow Finn Heikkilä – who also led the WRC2 Challenger category in his similar car – by 8.6sec but was frustrated not to have been more competitive.
The action continues from 08:20 local time on Saturday when the first of eight special stages totalling 104 competitive kilometres begins.
The provisonal standings can be consulted here.
