Kalle Rovanpera clinched his third win of a partial World Rally Championship campaign with a dominant performance in Latvia as the Baltic nation made its WRC debut.
Two-time world champions Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were rarely challenged through the 20 predominantly gravel stages to record a comfortable win by 39.2s.
Rovanpera took the win from Toyota team-mates Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais on their return to the series after withdrawing from Poland.
The final place on the podium was claimed by Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who snatched the position [+1m04.5s] on the final stage from local heroes Martins Sesks and Renars Francis, after the latter duo produced a highly impressive competitive debut driving a hybrid-powered Rally1 car on home soil.
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Road position was always going to be a critical factor, and Rovanpera not only made the most of starting sixth on the road but delivered consistently devastating speed and made smart tyre decisions to seal the win.
The Finn benefitted from his soft rubber to claim the lead by winning Thursday night’s Bikernieki super special. Once ahead, Rovanpera was never headed, ending Friday with a 15.7s lead over the impressive Sesks on Friday night after winning four of the seven tests. M-Sport’s Sesks created plenty of headlines of his own after the 24-year-old rookie claimed a maiden WRC stage win in stage three, which he replicated in stage four.
Rovanpera, who started his rally career on Latvia’s gravel roads, was fastest in six of Saturday’s eight tests, including his 200th WRC stage in only 50 starts, to extend his lead to a commanding 42.5s over Ogier, who edged Sesks into second by 4.7s.
With Super Sunday points on offer, Rovanpera continued to push, finishing third in the Sunday classification and adding five points to his 18-point tally from Saturday to complete a dominant win.
Ogier edged Rovanpera across the Sunday leg and used his experience to score extra points for the Toyota team and hold off Sesks in the fight for podium places. Sesks tried to hang onto the podium but a mechanical issue with his Puma on Sunday denied the Latvian what would have been a deserved podium. A minute and 45 seconds dropped pushed him to seventh overall.
Martins Sesks, Renars Francis, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Photo by: Tomasz…
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