WRC youngsters Rovanperä and Sesks lead the way in Latvia

The pair, aged 23 and 24, reaffirmed that the future is here now as they reached the midday tyre fitting zone split by 3.4sec, having each claimed fastest times as the rally weaved its way down from capital city Rīga towards the seaside city of Liepāja.

Rovanperä, driving a GR Yaris Rally1 car for Toyota GAZOO Racing, topped the standings having opened his morning with benchmark times at Milzkane. But it was local boy Sesks, contesting only his second event in an M-Sport Ford Puma and his first with full hybrid power, who was the talk of the town.

Despite being a newcomer to the sport’s top level, the 24-year-old romped to his maiden stage win on the 27.56km Tukums test with co-driver Renārs Francis alongside – and then backed it up with another at Andumi.

“The Tukums stage,” beamed a euphoric Sesks, “we won by 16 seconds last year [in ERC], and now we have our WRC first stage win. It’s amazing.

“To drive in the same times as world champions, wow - I have nothing to say.”

Eight-time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier made it two Toyotas inside the top three, trailing Sesks by 4.3sec after falling behind the Latvian on SS3. Ogier was given an early wake-up call when he ran wide on a right-hander in the day’s opener, bouncing through the foliage and coming within inches of the trees.

Ott Tänak drove impressively to hold fourth overall, 6.2sec back from Ogier despite running third on the road in his Hyundai i20 N. While those ahead on the timesheets benefited from a cleaner surface offered by their later starting positions, Tänak and his championship-leading team-mate Thierry Neuville plus Elfyn Evans were faced with a dusty top surface.

Takamoto Katsuta was fifth in another GR Yaris as Evans, driving a similar car, placed sixth. Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi filled the next two positions ahead Grégoire Munster while a frustrated Neuville completed the leaderboard in 10th.

“I don’t know what to say,” said road-opener Neuville. “We are doing what we can.”