Kalle Rovanpera is increasingly on his way to a second consecutive win. In the second stage of Rally Latvia, the two-time world champion opened up his advantage over his two rivals during the day, first Martins Sesks and then Sébastien Ogier, reaching a margin of over 40 seconds.
For Rovanpera it now seems like a catwalk towards victory, instead Sébastien Ogier, despite not being at 100% physical condition, succeeded in his intent, that of moving up to second position and giving Toyota Gazoo Racing a one-two.
Martins Sesks, on the other hand, found himself having to defend third place from an Ott Tanak who was increasingly hungry for the podium after noticing a drop in performance from the hometown hero. Instead, the Latvian, making his debut this weekend at the wheel of the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid, defended himself well, finishing the second stage in third place.
Ott Tanak had a truly unique afternoon. First the arched advertising board that collapsed on his car on SS14, then the error on SS16 that caused him to crash into a huge straw bale marking the boundary of a left-hand bend. Fortunately for him, the damage to his i20 N was not decisive in causing him to retire. The top 5 was completed by Adrien Fourmaux, much more convincing today than yesterday and able to close in on Tanak by taking advantage of his error in the last stage of the day.
Elfyn Evans completed the day in sixth place. An important placement, being eighth for the leader of the World Championship, Thierry Neuville. Both contenders for the title suffered a lot yesterday, where they entered the special first. Evans, however, was able to take advantage of a mistake by his teammate Takamoto Katsuta, who effectively gave him a position due to a mistake.
Ninth place for Espekka Lappi, who managed to get the small – but not very useful – satisfaction of overtaking Gregoire Munster in the standings. The Dutchman of M-Sport also gave himself an avoidable thrill by running wide after a blind jump and breaking the front splitter of his Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid on a kerb.
As for WRC2, Oliver Solberg continues to dominate ahead of Mikko Heikkila and Sami Pajari. While the class win does not seem to be in doubt, the two Finns will fight again tomorrow to decide who will be the driver to take second place behind the Norwegian.
The second leg of Rally Latvia ends here. The event will resume tomorrow morning with Special Stage 17, the 18.70-kilometer Krogzemji 1. The first car will enter the test at 07:55 Italian time.
WRC 2024 – Rally Latvia – Standings after SS16
Pos. Pilota/navigatore Vettura Tempo/distacco 1 Rovanpera/Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1h58’55”6 2 Ogier/Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +42″5 3 Sesks/Francis Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +47″2 4 Tanak/Jarveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1’08″0 5 Fourmaux/Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1’16″4 6 Evans/Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1’34″3 7 Katsuta/Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1’46″0 8 Neuville/Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2’33″9 9 Lappi7Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3’11″1 10 Munster/Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3’40″9
