Finland’s Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) finished in the lead at the Latvia Rally, the eighth round of the World Championship (WRC), after winning four of the seven stages contested in the first round.
The two-time world champion, who is participating in the WRC part-time this year, closed this first full day of competition with a time of 1:08.44.5 hours, leaving local driver Martins Sesks (Ford Puma) in second place, 15.7 seconds behind, with Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) in third, 21.6 seconds behind.
“It was a good day, it wasn’t perfect but we didn’t make any mistakes. Overall, I think we did a good job,” said Ronvanperä, who has already won in Kenya and the previous round in Poland this year, having retired in Portugal due to a crash.
The surprise is Latvian Martins Sesks, who is competing in his second WRC race, the first at the wheel of a car with a hybrid system.
Sesks, 24, also won the first two special stages of the day.
“It’s incredible. It’s been a day of great emotions,” said the Ford driver, after the day’s 120 timed kilometers.
The one who seems to have already dropped out of the fight is Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), the championship leader at the start of the rally, as he has already lost 1.23.3 minutes when opening up the dirt roads in Latvia.
Britain’s Elfyn Evans (Toyota), second in the World Championship, did not do much better, finishing the day in seventh position, 52.7 seconds behind, with Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai) in sixth, 38.8 seconds behind the leader.
On Saturday, eight more qualifying specials will be held, with a total of 104 timed kilometers.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
