2024 Tet Rally Latvia – Friday report
Kalle Rovanperä opened up a 15.7sec lead over native rising star Mārtiņš Sesks at Tet Rally Latvia as the 2 kids stole the present on Friday.
Latvia’s FIA World Rally Championship debut marks one thing of a homecoming for the 23-year-old Finn, because it was on the Baltic nation’s roads that he began his first-ever rally on the age of 12.
Helped by his stage win on Thursday’s opener at Biķernieki Monitor in Rīga, which attracted a sell-out crowd, Rovanperä was by no means headed on Friday and received 4 of the day’s seven super-fast gravel highway exams in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
However it was 24-year-old hotshot Sesks, contesting solely his second occasion in rallying’s highest echelon and utilising hybrid energy for the primary time in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, whose efficiency raised extra eyebrows.
Sesks, who’s co-driven by fellow Latvian Renārs Francis, reaffirmed that the longer term is right 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 within the course of. And, as if that weren’t sufficient for the 24-year-old, he backed it up with one other quickest time on the very subsequent check.
“It’s superb,” stated Sesks, who ended this 120km leg 5.9sec away from third-placed Toyota man Ogier. “It has been so emotional as we speak, and yesterday as nicely. I feel these subsequent two days would be the identical.”
Takamoto Katsuta’s all-in method to the Talsi finale helped the Toyota driver cross Ott Tänak and declare fourth general. He ended 11.6sec adrift of Ogier with M-Sport Ford man Adrien Fourmaux, who additionally overtook Tänak in the identical stage, 5.3sec behind.
Tänak, in the meantime, fell from fourth to sixth after a difficult day. The Estonian reported a insecurity early on in addition to a brake difficulty which he mounted on the roadside after the penultimate stage.
Elfyn Evans, at present second within the factors, trailed the leaders by greater than 50sec in seventh. Though he was not hit as exhausting as championship chief and road-opener Thierry Neuville, the Toyota ace was second within the beginning order and struggled to search out traction with no actual clear line to observe.
Tyre harm price Esapekka Lappi a handful of seconds on SS5 however the i20 N driver was fast to level out that his principal issues lay “between the steering wheel and the seat”. He dropped again to tenth after SS8, languishing behind Grégoire Munster and Neuville.
Solberg supreme in WRC2 on Friday
Oliver Solberg led WRC2 by greater than half a minute regardless of reporting an odd feeling aboard his Toksport WRT-entered Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Friday.
The Swede, who at present lies third within the championship standings, is already on the trail in the direction of claiming his second WRC2 victory of the season after he romped to quickest occasions on six of Friday’s seven super-fast levels, ending 31.1sec away from closest challenger Mikko Heikkilä.
Regardless of dominating the timesheets, nonetheless, Solberg struggled with an absence of traction resulting in loads of slides all through the day, and he even dialled again his pace within the afternoon to compensate for it.
Heikkilä, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for what’s his second WRC outing of the season, was engaged in a good scrap with Josh McErlean within the morning. Their duel got here to an finish when the Irishman ran broad and rolled his Škoda on SS6, dropping greater than a minute as spectators pushed the automotive again onto its wheels.
McErlean’s mishap opened the door for Rally Poland winner Sami Pajari to say third. He trailed fellow Finn Heikkilä – who additionally led the WRC2 Challenger class in his comparable automotive – by 8.6sec however was annoyed to not have been extra aggressive.
The motion continues from 08:20 native time on Saturday when the primary of eight particular levels totalling 104 aggressive kilometres begins.
The provisonal standings will be consulted right here.
