Rovanperä ended the loop with a brilliant fastest time. In the overall standings, he has a lead of over half a minute on his Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier and M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks.
Rovanperä enjoyed the fast Vecpils special stage, where his average speed was 129.2 kilometres per hour.
“This was really cool stage. I think I drove this in 2014 with an R2 car,” Rovanperä reminisced.
Rovanperä set the fastest time on three of the four morning stages, but there was still room for improvement.
“The tyre choice wasn’t the best, as we carried a spare tyre for nothing. It wasn’t used at all, so it wasn’t the best plan. But in the afternoon, we’ll do better,” Rovanperä commented.
Ogier and Sesks continued their battle for second place in the rally. This time, the eight-time world champion Ogier had the upper hand, beating the Latvian newcomer by 0.4 seconds. In the overall standings, Sesks is 0.6 seconds behind the French veteran.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak squeezed between the pair in the stage times and is fourth overall. The Estonian also hopes to fight for second place, but he is still about ten seconds behind Ogier.
Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta had difficulties on the Vecpils stage. Katsuta hit a bank but managed to continue. However, valuable time was lost as the power steering on his car broke.
Katsuta ultimately lost nearly 50 seconds, dropping from fifth to seventh place behind M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux and teammate Elfyn Evans.
“I went off in a chicane. It’s a shame,” Katsuta said.
WRC standings leader Thierry Neuville and his teammate Esapekka Lappi are eighth and ninth in the rally. The Hyundai drivers will likely have to settle for minor points on Saturday evening, as they have fallen significantly behind the rest.
Four more special stages will be run in the Rally Latvia after the service break on Saturday. The competition will conclude on Sunday.
Rally Latvia standings after SS12/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:43:12.2 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +34.8 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +35.4 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +45.0 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:06.3 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:14.3 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:35.5 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:14.4 |
| 9. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +2:43.7 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:51.8 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +5:41.2 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +6:06.4 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +6:14.1 |
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
