Sunday at Rally Latvia opened under the sign of Sébastien Ogier. The 8-time WRC world champion won Special Stage 17, the 18.70-kilometer Krogzemji 1, thus becoming the first leader of the Super Sunday, the Sunday classification that awards extra points in addition to those already assigned yesterday evening (but which must be confirmed today by all drivers reaching the finish line).
Ogier stopped the clock at 9’19″2, beating Kalle Rovanpera by 1″4. The leader of the general classification, not having to aim for the title, is unlikely to take too many risks today, strong of a margin of over 41 seconds over his French teammate.
Excellent time for Ott Tanak, third at 2″1 and capable of nibbling 2″2 from Martins Sesks in the general classification. The gap between the Estonian and the Latvian of M-Sport is still high, because between the two there are still 18″6 with 3 tests to go until the end of hostilities.
Sesks still achieved an interesting fourth time ahead of the pair that is fighting for the Drivers’ world title, the one formed by Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans. Both achieved the same special time of 9’25″9, but the Belgian is credited with a better position than the Welshman for having done better in terms of hundredths (remember that the times in the WRC stop at tenths, but the hundredths help to decide who did better in the event of a tie).
So with the fifth time of Neuville and the sixth of Evans, it’s up to Adrien Fourmaux to occupy the last position that assigns the Sunday points. The Frenchman of M-Sport did better by 2″8 than Takamoto Katsuta. Esapekka Lappi, the second driver to enter the test, was in difficulty, as was Gregoire Munster, who paid 35 seconds from the best.
As for the general classification, there are no duels on the horizon. It seems that this has been defined since yesterday afternoon. The WRC2 classification is also starting to be defined, with Oliver Solberg boasting half a minute on Mikko Heikkila and the Finn who has distanced his compatriot Sami Pajari: between the two, there are now 9 seconds in favor of the former.
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