Sesks ends friday in second place behind champion Rovanperä

The first full day of the FIA World RallyChampionship (WRC) Tet Rally Latvia has concluded, withcrews tackling seven stages in the Tukums and Talsi regions, as well as Talsicity. The Latvian crew of Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis surprised spectatorswith a fantastic performance, securing two stage wins and finishing the day insecond place, behind the reigning two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä.

In the first part of the day, WRC crews competed in two stages in the Tukums region – SS2 Milzkalne and SS3 Tukums. In the latter, Mārtiņš Sesks shocked the rally world by securing Latvia's first stage win in the World Championship. The excellent performance of the Sesks / Francis crew continued in the SS4 Andumi stage, where they scored another stage win.

After four Tet Rally Latvia stages, the overall lead was taken by Finnish driver Kalle Rovanperä, while Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis followed just 3.2 seconds behind. Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier trailed the leading crew by 7.5 seconds.

After a short break and tire changes in Tukums, the world's fastest rally crews again tackled both Tukuma stages in Milzkalne and Tukums. The day concluded with SS7 Strazde and SS8 Talsi, which started in the centre of Talsi city.

In the fifth stage, Frenchman Sébastien Ogier claimed victory, narrowly beating his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Takamoto Katsuta and Kalle Rovanperä by 0.1 and 0.2 seconds, respectively. Rovanperä continued to set impressive times in the remaining stages of the day, finishing Friday of Tet Rally Latvia in the lead.

Mārtiņš Sesks, competing for the M-Sport Ford team, maintained his pace throughout the day, continuing to post strong stage results and finishing in second place, 15.7 seconds behind the leader. It's worth noting that this is only Sesks second WRC rally in his career, and his first driving the hybrid-powered Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID car. Behind Sesks, in third place, is Frenchman Sébastien Ogier, who trails Rovanperä by 21.6 seconds, positioning the Latvian between two world champions.

An interesting battle unfolded for fourth place – before the final Talsi stage, Hyundai Shell Mobis driver Ott Tänak held fourth position. However, Takamoto Katsuta and Sesks teammate Adrien Fourmaux had a very successful final stage, both surpassing the Estonian. Katsuta's deficit to the leader is 33.2 seconds, while Fourmaux and Tänak are 5.3 and 5.6 seconds further behind, respectively.

The day's unfortunate performer can be considered the leader of the 2024 WRC season standings, Thierry Neuville. The Hyundai Shell Mobis driver trails the first-place holder by 1 minute and 23.3 seconds, placing him in ninth position.

In the WRC2 category, Oliver Solberg (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), son of the 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, has built a commanding lead after the first day. He has a 31.1-second advantage over Finnish driver Mikko Heikkilä (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), followed by another Finn, Sami Pajari (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), who is 8.6 seconds further behind.

Tomorrow, Tet Rally Latvia will continue with eight stages in the Kuldīga and Dienvidkurzeme regions, as well as city stage in Liepāja. On Sunday, WRC crews will face an additional four stages.

Tet Rally Latvia tickets available at Biļešu Paradīze online store www.bilesuparadize.lv.

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.