The first four cars reached the finish line, but then things started to happen.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans hit an inflatable advertising banner during his run. Evans escaped without damage, but his car tore the banner’s attachments loose. As a result, the banner apparently ended up in the middle of the road.
The rally organisers, however, allowed the stage to continue, and Hyundai’s Ott Tänak drove straight into the banner, forcing him to stop in the middle of the road. To make matters worse, it was a Toyota advertisement.
This led to a red flag, but Adrien Fourmaux, Takamoto Katsuta, and Tänak were affected by the red flags.
Tänak didn’t have much good to say about the organisers’ actions when he reached the finish.
“This describes exactly how safe we are in terms of race control. They were propably having nice meal and good wine,” Tänak said sarcastically.
“Well done race control, you are really taking care of us. I hope it was a good wine,” Tänak continued his sarcasm.
Tänak and Takamoto Katsuta, who came to help, eventually managed to remove the advertisement from the Hyundai, and after a short break, the stage was able to continue.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä drove the stage normally and once again set the fastest time, beating his teammate Sebastien Ogier by 3.9 seconds, further increasing his rally lead. Martins Sesks continues to hold third place in the competition. Drivers affected by the red flags was given a notional time.
There are still two special stages to be run in the Rally Latvia on Saturday. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Latvia standings after SS14/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:53:58.4 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +41.3 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +44.5 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +51.3 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:13.7 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:32.5 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:45.7 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:31.3 |
| 9. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +3:05.9 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:28.0 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +6:25.8 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +6:52.3 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +6:58.4 |
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
