The Finnish driver was only able to complete the Thursday evening spectator special stage in Riga, but technical issues struck immediately on Friday morning. The power steering was already acting up yesterday, and driving on Friday became impossible.
“The tyres are not a big thing, I think the power steering is a bigger thing, we might have a short rally. We did not have power steering towards the end,” Suninen predicted yesterday at the Bikernieki racetrack.
On Friday morning, it was announced that Suninen would not be able to continue the rally. At least Friday’s stages will be missed by the Finn. It is unclear whether Suninen will be able to compete on Saturday.
Suninen is competing in his fourth WRC rally of the season in Latvia. Three of these have now ended in retirement. In Portugal, Suninen’s car rolled in a high-speed section, apparently due to a technical fault. In Sardinia, technical issues struck again, as in Latvia.
A few weeks ago in Poland, Suninen managed to finish without retiring, but only in 11th place in the WRC2 class. The season has been very tough for Suninen, and no updates are expected for Hyundai’s Rally2 car, so the rest of the year is likely to be just as challenging.
Suninen will compete next in Rally Finland at the beginning of August. The schedule for the rest of the season is not yet clear.
