Oliver Solberg in a commanding class lead, Heikkilä and Pajari in a fierce battle – “I’m not blaming anyone”

Solberg leads the rally by a comfortable margin of over half a minute ahead of Mikko Heikkilä after eight special stages. Heikkilä, driving a Toyota Rally2 car, was satisfied with his performance. A podium finish in the World Rally Championship is within reach.

“We came pretty close to the targets set for us here. There were some issues with tyre pressures, they increased too much towards the end of the stage, but nothing major. We’ve kept the factory drivers behind us, and although Oliver (Solberg) is ahead, we’re keeping the pressure on,” Heikkilä stated.

“We’ll review the pace note videos tonight and focus on tomorrow. There are no major plans; we’ll drive as fast as we can.”

Behind Heikkilä in third place in the WRC2 is Sami Pajari. The Finn, who won his class in the previous two World Rally Championship rounds, is 8.6 seconds behind Heikkilä.

“It’s still an eight-second gap. We’ll keep Sami behind us,” Heikkilä vowed.

Pajari, on the other hand, was not entirely satisfied with his performance, although another podium finish is possible. The car didn’t quite suit the Latvian gravel roads.

“It was a pretty contradictory day. It feels like we’re not getting anywhere, but on the other hand, we’re not that far from the lead. It’s a bit frustrating, but I’ve tried to push hard on every stage,” Pajari said.

“I do have a vision whats wrong. When the roads are soft, we have better grip. But when the roads are really hard, as repaired by the organisers so they don’t wear out, our car is quite stiff, although I have set it up that way myself. I’m not blaming anyone. It certainly has an impact,” Pajari continued.

In Rally Latvia, seven special stages will be driven on Saturday. The rally ends on Sunday.

Rally Latvia, WRC2 standings after SS8/20: