Sesks' stunning performance enamours Latvian fans

‍M-Sport Ford World Rally Team witnessed a stunning performance from local hero Mārtiņš Sesks, who shone on his hybrid Rally1 debut. Elsewhere in the team, Adrien Fourmaux claimed a solid fourth overall and Grégoire Munster continued his points scoring run.

Local star Mārtiņš Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis have stunned local fans and audiences worldwide with an incredible appearance on their home rally in Latvia this week. Sesks’ first time boasting full-hybrid power in his Puma Rally1 since making his debut appearance in the non-hybrid version last month on Rally Poland, found himself fighting for a place on the podium all the way until the very last stage of the new FIA World Rally Championship event.

Sesks would start his weekend in style with a fourth fastest time on the 11 kilometer Biķernieki Track super special stage in Riga with a soundtrack of thousands of home fans cheering in support. Moving up into third overall on Friday’s opening stage, with what he called a ‘steady approach’, Sesks found himself only 1.2 seconds off eight-time world champion Ogier in second place.

Tearing into the Tukums stage, the Latvian driver’s talent on his home stages rang true. Delivering impressive split times across the full 27 kilometer stint, Sesks’ incredible drive was rewarded as he would claim his first-ever WRC stage win by a margin of 1.6 seconds. On his second time competing in a Rally1 car, and his first using full-hybrid capabilities, the 24-year-old would surpass Ogier in the overall standings and find himself second overall.

A speechless Sesks would then follow up with another stage win on SS4 to carry him into the TFZ with guaranteed popularity, fans cheering as his car pulled into the media zone at Tukums. Holding second overall throughout the afternoon loop, Sesks would round off the rally’s first full day with a world champion either side of him, on one side Rovenperӓ, and Ogier on the other.

Now with Ogier determined to hunt him down, Sesks had a big task for Saturday. Despite consistently setting top-three times and keeping on the pace of the top crews, Ogier would finally catch him on SS11, dropping the local into third with 9.9 seconds now separating him from Tӓnak in fourth. Maintaining top-five times throughout the afternoon, Sesks was able to hold off Tӓnak to keep third overall overnight and take hold of 13 valuable championship points.

Sunday was all about trying to secure a first ever podium for Sesks. An 18 second gap heading into the day should have been enough, but despite keeping a cool head, a couple of small mistakes meant this gap was trimmed to just 4.6 seconds heading into the final stage of the event, the Power Stage. Sesks would now have to really fight hard to keep hold of his coveted podium spot.

But it wasn’t to be, and tragedy would strike for the Latvian star. A transmission problem on the first corner thwarted his hopes for a maiden podium, dropping him over a minute and suddenly out of silverware contention. A heartbreaking finish to an otherwise perfect weekend, but Sesks can take only positives from his full-hybrid debut at home, still taking home seventh overall, his first WRC stage wins and a worldwide army of new fans.

Delivering another fantastic drive in Latvia, Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria started out steady on Thursday and Friday, getting a feel for the new stages. On pace with Evans and Tӓnak throughout the day, Fourmaux was building confidence on the unfamiliar roads. An impressive third-fastest time on SS4, only 0.6s slower than Sesks’ stage-winning time, would lead into a positive afternoon loop as the French pairing chipped away at the gaps ahead of them. After a fifth-fastest time on Friday’s final stage, they would move into fifth overall ahead of Tӓnak.

On Saturday, Fourmaux was focused on maintaining fifth. With other crews moving positions around him, Fourmaux’s consistency allowed him to hold strong, and he ended the day still fifth with eyes on Tӓnak, now only 8.4 seconds ahead. He would also collect eight provisional championship points.

Seeing through Sunday sensibly, the Frenchman would set seventh fastest on the Mazilmāja Power Stage, moving up into fourth overall at the end of the rally when teammate Sesks would hit misfortune. Fourmaux collects a total of 10 points for his championship charge and remains fifth in the standings.

Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka had a challenging but overall successful weekend, gathering pace throughout and gaining valuable experience on fast gravel. Keeping consistent with his performances so far, Munster avoided trouble with a sensible and measured drive. Gaining confidence on Friday afternoon, Munster posted an impressive third-fastest time on SS8 to pass Lappi and hold position ahead of Neuville.

With the aim to keep close to Lappi, Munster posted consistent times throughout Saturday, and other than going wide on a jump on SS13 he delivered a strong, clean drive, and picked up one point for finishing 10th on Saturday.

Despite battling some technical issues on Sunday morning, Munster would remain close to the other crews and would get to the end of the rally drama-free, gaining one position to finish ninth overall.

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‍Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
“What an incredibly tough end to an incredible event. Adrien scored another fantastic result this weekend and Grégoire continued the learning process, which of course we can be very happy about. However this weekend is all about Mārtiņš and Renārs. When we embarked on this two event programme I don’t think anyone quite expected it to go like it has. They have really shown what they are capable of and to watch them over this weekend fighting side by side with drivers like Ott and Séb was incredible. I am totally devastated about what happened on the final stage, and I wish we could have delivered them the home podium, but WRC is tough, and it will be a tough lesson that will only help them get stronger into the future. I have been in that situation before, with both Ott and Elfyn hitting problems on the final stage - and both of them have gone on to do OK! I expect the same for Mārtiņš. It was incredible to be part of this journey with them, and I want to thank them for their professionalism and way of working with the team. It was a joy to see them take not only one, but two WRC stage wins. I hope this is not the end of the journey with M-Sport for the pair, but for now, they have truly set themselves on the eyes of all of the WRC. A special thanks also to the Rally Latvia organisers and fans for making such a great event, I hope we can come back to this beautiful country again before long.”

‍Adrien Fourmaux, Fourth Overall, said:
“I think it’s been another strong result for us, we’ve been fighting with Elfyn, Taka and Ott throughout the weekend. We missed out on a bit of performance on Friday morning, which maybe also affected us on Saturday with our road position. But generally we can be pleased with what we’ve done. Mārtiņš has shown some really good pace as well as us, and we have shown that the car is competitive on these fast roads. I wanted to get some more points on Sunday, but we had some issues with the aero which didn’t help us, but we tried our best and it’s still good preparation for Finland.”

‍Mārtiņš Sesks, Seventh Overall, said:
“This experience with M-Sport has been amazing, I was enjoying so much being here with the team. The team has become like a family now, we were really working shoulder to shoulder to get the result and I think we fit in well!”

‍Grégoire Munster, Ninth Overall, said:
“Not the best event for us, we managed to show some pace on Friday afternoon, but from then on it became a bit more difficult. We wanted to change the set-up a bit for Saturday afternoon, but I damaged the aero on the landing of a jump, so that’s my bad. On Sunday we encountered some issues, which we’ll resolve for the next event. But it has been really good mileage which will hopefully help us on Rally Finland.”

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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.

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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.

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.