Last-stage heartbreak won’t dim Sesks’ WRC brilliance

In only his second appearance at the top level of rallying and his first using hybrid power, Sesks starred in a stunning story centred on both the local hero and a nation celebrating its maiden WRC round.

He claimed back-to-back stage wins on Friday morning and ran inside the top three for much of the weekend, battling with eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier whilst also keeping 2019 title winner Ott Tänak at bay. However, in the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage, he slipped from third to seventh when a transmission glitch slowed his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.

“I think the most important thing is that, if we had [achieved] the top three, it would have been because we had a good pace and the team was working perfectly,” Sesks told WRC.com. “It wasn’t just some fortune or something – we did a good job.

“This is rallying, sometimes you can have technical issues. I cannot complain about what happened – we had an incredible rally and to be competing among those world champions is still something I am understanding. We learn from these things and sure they make us stronger.”

Tänak, who climbed to podium position at Sesks’ expense, was the first to congratulate Sesks on is super impressive drive. Other stars of the sport, including Ogier, were also impressed with the 24-year-old’s turn of speed.

“After the last stage, Ott came over and he said that he has been in this position before,” revealed Sesks. “I said ‘yeah, it looked to easy’. And maybe from the outside it looked too easy in Poland and Latvia, but we really did our job.

“I think, already in Poland, we showed that we are not just here to drive but we are here to do hard work. And I think that from that point, [the other drivers] saw that we were capable of doing things.”

Sesks was treated like a celebrity by the fans, with Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkēvičs even visiting the Liepāja service park and snapping a selfie with the youngster. On the local support, he added: “This has been incredible for the fans here in Latvia. From the first moment in the first stage on Thursday night the people have been amazing, with so much support. We can see how much this sport means to the Latvian people. There are a lot of positives from this week.

“It is a really nice thing to have, especially when the President is coming. It took a lot of energy out of us, maybe some good hours from preparations as well, but I think you just have to cope with that when WRC is coming to your home.”