Rovanperä set the fastest time for the seventh time in the rally, defeating Hyundai’s Ott Tänak by two seconds on the 17.52-kilometre Snepele stage. This was the 200th fastest time of Rovanperä’s WRC career. Considering Rovanperä is only 23 years old, achieving 200 fastest times is a remarkable feat.
“That’s quite cool. If I would have known that I would’ve been faster! It was a clean stage, quite soft. There were quite big ruts, for sure it’s cleaning enough but it is getting quite soft in places,” Rovanperä commented.
Rovanperä’s overall lead is now nearly half a minute ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Latvian driver Martins Sesks. The local driver defeated Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier on the 10th special stage and is now 3.5 seconds ahead of the multiple champion.
“I wasn’t happy with this stage. Making mistakes. We tried to go a bit faster, there’s still a bit of experience in some places. Turning in a corner, approaching too fast and too wide, then we are a bit cautious. I’m trying to understand the best way,” Sesks summarised.
“It was (challenging)and looks like I was not pushing enough. Pretty loose at the end with some big stones, we have to do better in the next one,” Ogier explained.
Tänak has started Saturday morning strongly. Tänak overtook Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux on the opening stage and is now just half a second behind Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta in fourth place.
“Today has been a little bit more enjoyable than yesterday, but it is just about road position. Nothing else we can do,” Tänak said.
In the WRC2 class, Oliver Solberg’s lead remains. Second-placed Mikko Heikkilä is 27.2 seconds behind the Skoda driver. Like Heikkilä, Toyota driver Sami Pajari has closed in and is now only 3.6 seconds behind his fellow countryman.
In Rally Latvia, six more special stages will be driven on Saturday. The competition ends on Sunday.
Rally Latvia standings after SS10/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:25:54.0 |
| 2. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +29.2 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +32.7 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +45.8 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +46.3 |
| 6. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +57.7 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:04.7 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1.52.0 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:07.8 |
| 10. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +2:13.0 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +4:39.1 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +5:06.3 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +5:09.9 |
Rally Latvia Itinerary (CET)
Thursday 18.7. 06:31 Shakedown: Cimdenieki (3.58 km) 19:05 SS1: Bikernieki Track (11.13 km) Friday 19.7. 09:00 SS2: Milzkalne 1 (4.99 km) 09:45 SS3: Tukums 1 (27.56 km) 11:00 SS4: Andumi (17.86 km) 12:50 Tyre fitting zone 13:30 SS5: Milzkalne 2 (4.99 km) 14:15 SS6: Tukums 2 (27.56 km) 15:30 SS7: Strazde (17.44 km) 16:20 SS8: Talsi (20.52 km) Saturday 20.7. 07:20 SS9: Pilskalns (18.87 km) 08:35 SS10: Snepele (17.52 km) 10:30 SS11: Ivande (23.04 km) 12:05 SS12: Vecpils 1 (12.64 km) 13:30 Service (40 min) 15:15 SS13: Podnieki (10.09 km) 16:05 SS14: Vecpils 2 (12.64 km) 18:00 SS15: Dinsdurbe (6.64 km) 19:15 SS16: Liepaja City Stage (2.56 km) Sunday 21.7. 07:55 SS17: Krogzemji 1 (18.70 km) 09:05 SS18: Mazilmaja 1 (13.34 km) 10:55 SS19: Krogzemji 2 (18.70 km) 13:15 SS20: Mazilmaja 2 (13.34 km) *Power Stage
