Ogier beat rally leader Kalle Rovanperä by 1.4 seconds. The Toyota drivers showed that they are seriously competing for the super Sunday WRC points this time, although a double victory in the rally is also enticing.
On Sunday, points are awarded to the seven fastest drivers and the five quickest on the rally-ending Power Stage. Earlier this season, Hyundai drivers have dominated the Sunday stages.
“We are obviously trying to be fast today to get points for the team. So far, two Toyotas are in the lead, so it’s looking good. Personally, it’s not so fun to push in this situation with a big lead in the rally,” Rovanperä summarised.
“We put on hard tyres because we wanted to save the tyres a bit. It was quite slippery,” Ogier remarked.
Latvian sensation Martins Sesks continues in third place in the rally. The gap to second-place Ogier is nine seconds. Behind him, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak is 18.6 seconds back, so Sesks can afford to be slightly cautious. However, Sesks took a jump quite aggressively on the Sunday opener.
“I thought with the Rally2 car we’d go full throttle there, but apparently not with the Rally1 car. I’ll just take it easy. Three stages left,” Sesks stated.
Tänak is third in the super Sunday results, seven-tenths of a second behind Ogier.
“This stage was quite simple and very straight. Hard to make big differences. I should be faster than those ahead of me. There’s still a day left,” Tänak said.
Adrien Fourmaux of M-Sport Ford continues in fifth place in the rally, ahead of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who has suffered from his starting position throughout the rally, is in eighth place.
Oliver Solberg continues to lead the WRC2 class. Mikko Heikkilä is in second place ahead of Sami Pajari.
Rally Latvia standings SS17/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:08:16.2 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +41.1 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +50.1 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +1:08.7 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:25.1 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:39.3 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:57.5 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:39.2 |
| 9. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +3:24.8 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:15.3 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +7:13.8 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +7:42.8 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +7:52.0 |
Super Sunday standings:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 9:19.2 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +1.4 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2.1 |
| 4. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +4.3 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +6.7 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +6.7 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +10.1 |
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
