WRC Latvia: Rovanperä Extends Lead on Saturday
Finland’s Kalle Rovanperä has increased his advantage in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with a dominant performance on Saturday’s stages in Latvia.
The 23-year-old, who made his racing debut in the Baltic country over 10 years ago, distanced himself from his pursuers over eight fast gravel stages near Liepja to increase his lead advantage from 15.7 to 42.5 seconds with one day left in the eighth round of the championship.
Rovanperä Claims 200th Career WRC Stage Win
It was a memorable morning for Rovanperä, who claimed his 200th career WRC stage win on the sun-drenched Snepele test. His lead grew to 34.8sec by midday and continued to dominate in the afternoon, with the Finn topping the standings on all but one occasion. Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier took a one-two in the GR Yaris, while local ace Mrti Sesks was third.
Ogier Overtakes Sesks
Ogier started the day 5.9sec adrift of Sesks but overtook the young M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver on the final morning stage. Luck was on the Frenchman’s side when he crashed into a ditch on stage 11, stumbling through undergrowth before returning to the road unscathed.
Sesks on Verge of Sensational Podium Finish
Sesks, who finished the day just 4.7 seconds behind Ogier, is on the verge of a sensational podium finish in his second outing in rallying’s top class. The two drivers ahead of him, along with Ott Tänak, are all world title winners.
Tänak Moves Up
Tänak moved up from sixth to fourth place with his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, winning stage 11 and closing in to within 6.3 seconds of Sesks. However, a transmission failure on the final stage of the Liepja City Stage cost him around 15 seconds and he went into the overnight stop 20.8 seconds behind.
Classification
- Rovanperä-Halttunen (Fin/Toyota), 1h 58m 55.6s
- Ogier-Landais (Fra/Toyota), at 42.5
- Sesks-Francis (Let/Ford), at 47.2
- Tanak-Jarveoja (Est/Hyundai), at 1:08.0
- Fourmaux-Coria (Fra/Ford), at 1:16.4
