On the Biķernieki track, the crews covered 11.13 kilometers and Finnish pilot Kalles Rovanperes (“Toyota GR Yaris”) reached the finish line the fastest, who finished in seven minutes and 28.5 seconds.
Belgian Thierry Neville (Hyundai i20 N) and French Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris) shared second place, losing 2.4 seconds to Finland.
Seska’s crew (“Ford Puma”) lost 2.9 seconds to Rovanper, only 0.5 seconds behind the third place.
Matīss Mežaks/Arnis Ronis (“Škoda Fabia Evo”) and Artūrs Priednieks/Jānis Kirkovalds (“Škoda Fabia RS”), who compete with “Rally 2” cars, ranked 28th and 31st respectively in the overall standings, while in WRC2 they were at the 13th and 16th best results.
In the continuation of the competition, seven stages are scheduled on Friday, followed by eight more stages on Saturday, and the last four stages will be held on Sunday, the final day of the competition. In total, the crews will have to complete 20 speed stages in Latvia with a length of 300.13 kilometers, but together with the crossings, they will be more than 1000 kilometers.
At the end of June, Seska’s crew made their WRC debut, finishing fifth in the Polish Rally.
After seven stages, the Belgian Thierry Neville, who has accumulated 136 points, takes the first place in the overall standings of the world championship, while the British pilot Elphin Evans is the second with 121 points, and the Estonian Ots Tenak completes the top three with 115 points. Sesk ranks 14th with nine points.
The first WRC stage in Latvia will cover the territory from Liepāja to Riga, with speed stages also taking place in Tukums, Talsi and Talsu regions, Kuldīgas and Southern Kurzeme regions.
The season will continue with stages in Finland, Greece, Chile, Germany and Japan.
Finnish racing driver Kalle Rovanpere became a two-time world champion last year, securing the title one stage before the end of the season. Latvian ex-champion Rovanpere is not competing in all WRC stages this year.
Source: www.diena.lv
