Rovanperä continued his impressive run as the Saturday afternoon loop began with the Podnieki special stage, being run for the first time.
Rovanperä clocked a stunning fastest time, 2.6 seconds ahead of his teammate Sebastien Ogier, despite the stage being just over ten kilometres long.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä’s lead over Ogier increased to 37.4 seconds.
“I’m doing well, I’m enjoying it a lot. Bit of a different tyre plan, the balance of the car and the grip felt good so I am just enjoying driving,” Rovanperä commented at the end of the stage.
Ford’s Martins Sesks remained in the fight for a podium position, driving 0.2 seconds slower than Ogier and trailing Rovanperä by 2.8 seconds. Ogier and Sesks continue their battle for second place, now separated by just 0.8 seconds.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak remains in fourth place but lost 3.6 seconds to Rovanperä. Overall, the Estonian is 48.6 seconds behind the leader. Martins Sesks has extended his lead over Tänak to 10.4 seconds. Sesks also beat the Estonian by four-tenths of a second on the first stage of the afternoon, which was a valuable victory for the host country’s rally hopeful.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi remains in ninth place but is now enjoying the driving much more than on Friday.
“Really nice stage with some blind crests, you need to turn the car on the crest and go sideways over it, it’s beautiful. The behaviour of the car is fairly nice, so it’s nice to play with it now,” Lappi said with a wide smile.
The 13th special stage also featured a major incident when Gregoire Munster nearly rolled his car. He came over a blind crest too fast, damaging the front of his car. However, Munster assured that the essential parts of the car remained intact.
There are still three special stages to be run in the Rally Latvia on Saturday. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Latvia standings after SS13/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:48:18.3 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +37.4 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +38.2 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +48.6 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:09.5 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:20.2 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:41.4 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:24.8 |
| 9. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +2:57.4 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:08.5 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +6:02.1 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +6:27.5 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +6:35.2 |
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
