Series leader Thierry Neuville suffered throughout the race from his role as the road sweeper, and Ott Tänak was unable to compete for the rally win.
Neuville ultimately finished eighth in the rally and only fifth on Super Sunday. Thus, there were only nine championship points available for the Belgian, but it was enough to keep him at the top of the drivers’ championship.
Hyundai’s weekend rescue fell to Tänak’s shoulders, and the Estonian delivered. Tänak eventually rose to third place in the rally and was also the fastest driver on Super Sunday and the Power Stage, amassing a total of 22 championship points.
Tänak’s impressive haul kept Hyundai at the top of the manufacturers’ standings by one point over Toyota. At the same time, Tänak moved up to second place in the drivers’ championship.
Check the World Rally Championship standings here.
Tänak received well-deserved praise from team principal Cyril Abiteboul.
“First and foremost, a fantastic drive from both Thierry and Ott, saving the weekend and changing the situation back to P2. We are still P1 in the team championship. So okay, it was a bad weekend, but if at the end of a bad weekend you are still leading in all championships, it is not that bad,” Abiteboul remarked.
In Latvia, Tänak once again took full advantage of the new points system. The Estonian gathered almost the same championship points from the race as the dominant winner, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, and the race’s second-place finisher, Sebastien Ogier.
Rovanperä and Ogier are only driving part of the season, but once again significantly helped Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship. Abiteboul had nothing positive to say about the part-time drivers who benefited from favourable starting positions in Latvia.
“I almost feel a shame when I look at the effort, the commitment, the passion that these full time drivers are putting into the sport and the sort of lack of recognition and reward that they get that for that,” Abiteboul fumed.
“But I think as a team, we have sort of done the best that we could without surrendering. And I’m ultimately pretty proud of what we’ve done,” continued the Hyundai boss.
Next up in the World Rally Championship is a real treat, as the circus heads to Finland. The Rally Finland will take place next week from August 1st to 4th. Hyundai’s goal for the gravel roads of Central Finland is very clear.
“It’s going to be another one very challenging event. We know that Toyota will come probably even stronger, at least in terms of number of cars. We come to Finland as underdogs, and I sort of like this idea. I think it gives us even more motivation to do well. And if we leave Finland still leading, at least in one championship, it will be starting to look good for the rest of the season,” Abiteboul outlined.
