Rovanperä holds lead before the final day of the Tet Rally Latvia

The penultimate day of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Tet Rally Latvia has concluded, with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT driver Kalle Rovanperä maintaining a convincing lead. Another Toyota crew, featuring rally legend Sébastien Ogier, holds the second position, meanwhile, the Liepāja crew of Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis, driving a Rally1 car prepared by the M-Sport Ford WRT manufacturer team, continued to demonstrate high-level performance, finishing the day in third place.

The third competition day of the Tet Rally Latvia started in the Kuldīga region, with WRC crews competing in the SS9 Pilskalns and SS10 Snēpele stages. The rally leader, two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä, continued to deliver a commanding performance, extending his lead. The Latvian crew, Sesks / Francis, finished the first stages in 4th and 5th place, respectively, maintaining a half-second lead over their closest rival, eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier.

After a short break in the participant zone in Tukums, the drivers headed to SS11 Īvande, followed by the first run of SS12 Vecpils. In the Īvande stage, Estonian fans were delighted as Ott Tänak secured his first stage win of the Tet Rally Latvia. However, after both stages, Rovanperä had increased his overall lead to 34.8 seconds, while Sesks was trailing Ogier by 0.6 seconds. Tänak was closing in on the top three, reducing his gap to the Latvian Sesks to 9.6 seconds.

At noon, the Tet Rally Latvia crews visited the service park, while the afternoon session involved four more stages. Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Rovanperä continued to extend his lead, while the following trio of drivers were within an 11-second margin, creating excitement for the podium battle. Although the eight-time world champion Ogier slightly increased his advantage, Sesks, driving the Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID, was only 4.7 seconds behind the Frenchman. Estonian Tänak trailed the podium position by just 6.3 seconds.

In a fantastic atmosphere, Saturday concluded with the city stage in Liepāja. Kalle Rovanperä claimed his sixth stage win of the day, beating his teammate Takamoto Katsuta by 0.1 seconds on the short stage, and extending his overall lead to 42.5 seconds. In the battle for the podium, both Sébastien Ogier and Mārtiņš Sesks posted identical times, trailing Rovanperä by 1.5 seconds, maintaining the 4.7-second gap between them ahead of the final day. Tänak continued to face technical issues, losing significant time, and now trails the podium by 20.8 seconds before the last four stages.

In the overall rally standings, Mārtiņš Sesks teammate Adrien Fourmaux is in fifth place, while Toyota driver Elfyn Evans holds the sixth position.

It was precisely in the Liepāja city stage that championship leader Thierry Neuville posted his best result of the day, finishing third. However, the Belgian currently holds only eighth place overall, meaning he has lost valuable championship points after Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the WRC2 category, Oliver Solberg maintained a solid lead, with his advantage now reaching 26.6 seconds. A fierce battle for second place could unfold tomorrow between two Finnish drivers – Mikko Heikkilä and Sami Pajari, who are separated by only five seconds.

Tet Rally Latvia will conclude on Sunday with the Power Stage SS20 Mazilmāja, finishing at the Vecpils autotrack. The start of the first special stage of the day is scheduled for 8.55.

News and other information about the Tet Rally Latvia, round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), available at www.lvrally.com, as well as on social media X @LVRally, Facebook @LVRally, Instagram @lvrally, and TikTok @tetrallylatvia. While, news about the FIA World Rally Championship available at www.wrc.com.

Tet Rally Latvia, round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is set to take place on July 18-21, 2024. The event is possible thanks to the support provided by Ministry of Education and Science, rally city Liepāja and capital city Rīga, as well as municipalities of Tukums, Talsi, and Kuldīga. Special thanks to general sponsor Tet, many thanks to our main sponsors Ramirent, Sportland, and X3000, official car partner Toyota, as well as sponsors BTA, Fristads, and SIXT. Thanks to our partners Canon Biznesa Centrs Liepāja, Latvijas Valsts meži and municipality of Dienvidkurzeme. Informative support provided by news portal DELFI, Kurzemes Radio, Sporta Avīze un Talsu Vēstis. Thanks to Tet Rally Latvia supporters shopping malls AKROPOLE, AOK, Ballīte Ballītē, Biķernieku trase, Conti STL, Conway, CSDD, DHL, Eco Baltia vide, Elnetworks, Flora, FN Serviss, Getic, Jānis Pūce, Löfbergs, Liepāja Special Economic Zone, MB Grupa, Mission Latvia, OCT Composites, Peltors, Rentadisplay, Rīgas Brīvostas pārvalde, Riga Motormusem, SignTech, Swecon, Swan, Törley, Travel Latvia, as well as technical partner Sports Racing Technologies. Tet Rally Latvia is organised by RA Events in cooperation with Speed Festival Kurzeme and Latvian Automobile Federation.

Tet Rally Latvia supports initiatives carried out by Latvian Children's Support Centre, who has created and are developing social rehabilitation facility for children with special needs. We invite you to support this initiative, by making a donation here: http://www.lbaf.lv/lv/ka-ziedot.