The Estonian, hunting for the full points haul on super Sunday, set the fastest time on the 18th special stage. He beat Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier by 1.2 seconds. Ogier, however, still leads super Sunday, with Tänak closing the gap to just 0.9 seconds.
“It has gone quite w”It’s been okay, so far it is a good loop for us. Two stages to go,” Ogier said.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä continues to lead the rally with a commanding margin. In the super Sunday results, Rovanperä is third, 1.3 seconds behind Tänak. In the overall standings, the Finnish star has a safe lead of 40.3 seconds.
“It’s not so easy, we have a big gap so you don’t want to mess anything up for the win. This year Sunday is big for the team points. This was a tricky stage, we know it is the Wolf Power Stage later on, but this was really (bad). No feeling in the car whatsoever,” Rovanperä summarised.
Tänak’s good time has put him back into the podium battle in the overall race. Latvian sensation Martins Sesks, who made a mistake, is now only 12.7 seconds ahead.
“We made a big mistake which cost many seconds. In a junction we went so wide and lost many seconds for sure,” Sesks said.
“This whole rally we haven’t been able to find a good rhythm. I try my best, I push hard. The flow is missing, that’s all,” Tänak explained.
In the overall standings, M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux continues in fifth place, ahead of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is in eighth place, followed by Esapekka Lappi.
There are still two special stages left in the Rally Latvia.
Rally Standings after SS18/20:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:15:27.2 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +40.3 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +54.0 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +1:06.7 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:26.6 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:40.7 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2:02.9 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +2:44.0 |
| 9. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +3:31.8 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:37.5 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +7:37.3 |
| 12. | Mikko Heikkilä | Toyota | +8:10.4 |
| 13. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +8:18.6 |
Super Sunday standings:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 16:29.4 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +0.9 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +2.2 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.6 |
| 5. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +9.0 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +12.3 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +12.4 |
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
