Kalle Rovanperä and Toyota Gazoo Racing dominated the eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Tet Rally Latvia, securing the World Champion's third win in five events this season. Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and Ott Tänak (Hyundai) joined him on the podium, gaining points on the championship leader, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
The fast gravel stages of Rally Latvia suited Kalle Rovanperä perfectly, leaving no chance for his competitors and securing his second consecutive victory and third overall in a part-time season. The Finnish driver, co-driven by Jonne Halttunen, led for all 20 stages of the rally, finishing with a 39.2-second advantage over Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, who returned to competition after a dramatic accident during the reconnaissance of Rally Poland.
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja managed to salvage Hyundai Shell Mobis’s performance with a third place, bringing the Estonian duo even closer to Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe in the championship, after the Belgian pair only managed an eighth place in Latvia. Only eight points now separate Neuville and Tänak in the championship standings, with Elfyn Evans (fifth in Latvia) 13 points behind Neuville, and Ogier, who has only competed in five of the eight events so far, 28 points off the lead!
Sesks shines
In Latvia, another standout was young local driver Martins Sesks (24 years old), who won two stages with a Ford Puma Rally1 without the hybrid system and missed the final podium due to a transmission issue in the Power Stage! A name to watch closely in the future…
In WRC2, Oliver Solberg (Skoda) returned to winning ways and now holds a three-point lead in the championship over Sami Pajari (Toyota), although the young Finn is preparing for his official debut with a Rally1 car in the next WRC event, Rally Finland, from August 1 to 4. In Latvia, young Joosep Ralf Nõgene (Renault) won the WRC3 event and veteran Armin Kremer (Skoda) triumphed among the Masters.