Sesks made a name for himself in the WRC last season during the rallies in Poland and his home country, Latvia. He set impressive stage times and even fought for podium positions before running into trouble. After finishing sixth on the snow in Sweden this February, the Portuguese round this weekend could bring an even stronger result.
The Latvian ace topped the timesheets in the Thursday shakedown, beating Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä by 0.6 seconds. It’s worth noting that Sesks completed one more run than most of the frontrunners – and his best time came on his fourth pass. Still, fastest is fastest.
“We did one extra run to get the overall feeling, because I haven’t been in the car for a while, so we just had to get a bit more seat time ahead of the rally. That’s what we did,” Sesks told RallyJournal.com.
“Of course, the feeling is great – to be back in a rally car and doing WRC events. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Despite the impressive start, Sesks is keeping his feet on the ground. For him, the key focus is on gaining experience.
“I think the approach will be quite similar to Sweden. On the first pass of the stages, we’ll see how everything is working, and then we’ll go from there on the second pass and see if we can do a little bit more,” Sesks said.
“I think for the moment, the result is nothing that matters. We’re not doing a full season – we’re just getting as much experience as we can.”
Sesks will have a packed summer of rallying. His seven-event programme includes all of the European gravel rounds.
“Rally Portugal suits us, but it’s just a question of experience. Otherwise, I think it should be a nice rally. I think Latvian fans will love that. And yeah, it’s going to be a cool five events in the next few months.”
