Finnish driver under pressure from factory drivers in the Latvia – “I guess we’re a bit of amateurs”

With only four special stages remaining, Solberg holds a comfortable lead of 26.6 seconds ahead of Mikko Heikkilä, who is competing in a Toyota. Solberg took the lead on Friday, and Saturday brought no changes to the leaderboard at the top.

According to the Swedish prospect, however, the day was anything but comfortable. The lead had to be protected, and there was no room for any reckless driving.

“It was definitely not an easy day. Especially in the morning, there were tricky spots where the rally could have been lost. I took it a bit easier and lost a few seconds there,” Solberg told RallyJournal.com.

“I’m very happy. The day was pretty boring, actually, because you always want to push. However, it was necessary to drive sensibly.”

Heikkilä is fiercely battling for second place against another Toyota driver, Sami Pajari. Both Solberg and Pajari have been mentioned in paddock rumours as the next top-class drivers, while Heikkilä, seasoned in the European and Finnish championships, is still relatively inexperienced at the WRC level.

“There are always some ‘what ifs’ left. That’s always the case when you’re not leading the rally. It’s a bit frustrating to have given away a few seconds. The spectator stage especially felt good, but the time wasn’t great,” Heikkilä noted.

“The factory drivers are in front and behind. I guess we’re a bit of amateurs. Oliver is running away with it, hats off to him. He’s a tough guy to compete against. We’ll try to keep the other guy behind,” Heikkilä added.

Pajari is only five seconds behind Heikkilä, making the four stages on Sunday highly significant for the Finnish drivers.

“I’m not saying I underestimated my opponents. That’s not the case. Generally, the feeling isn’t where it should be. It feels like I need to pick up the pace. It just doesn’t seem to be there. It’s frustrating,” Pajari lamented.

WRC2 standings in the Rally Latvia after SS16/20: