Sesks already made a splash in his Rally1 debut in the previous World Rally Championship round in Poland, where his Ford Puma didn’t yet have a hybrid unit. For his home rally in Latvia, Sesks also received a hybrid unit, creating an air of anticipation for a Latvian sensation.
And when the call came, Sesks got to work. Hailing from Liepaja, the hub of the rally, Sesks clocked his first fastest times in the WRC on Friday and put pressure on reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä.
During the afternoon, Toyota driver Rovanperä pulled a clearer lead over Sesks. Nevertheless, Sesks’ performance was phenomenal. After the first proper driving day, he is impressively in second place, 15.7 seconds behind Rovanperä.
“Of course, it’s incredible, but we still have two long days to go. As funny as it sounds, we’re still learning,” Sesks coolly retorted about his situation.
Sesks has the most to learn about the hybrid unit, which provides extra boost in the special stages. In Poland, he did not have the added power of the hybrid.
“Now it (Rally1 car) was probably faster. And I think we started to try to understand how it works,” the Latvian sensation said.
Sesks clocked the fastest time in the first special stage on Friday morning, with a 1.6-second gap to Rovanperä. He ended up winning two special stages, as he was also fastest in the next one.
“It was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t think that it was going to come that early, but we’ll take it,” Sesks smiled.
Now, there are high expectations for success from the Latvian home crowd for Sesks. However, Sesks tries to keep the basics in mind.
“Once you’re in the car, you’re just enjoying what you do and forget about everything else.”
