Ogier ready to fly in Finland after praising team-mate's Latvia win

The Frenchman, returning to fast gravel rallying for the first time since 2021, said there was little he could do to match the speed of his Finnish colleague. Ogier did, however, bely his recent lack of match practice on this style of rally by running in a podium position from the start of the Liepāja-based event.

Soon after finishing second and 39.2sec behind Rovanperä, Ogier said: “Kalle was untouchable this weekend, so very well done to him. His speed was to be expected, this is his favourite profile of road and he’s been born here in a rally car. I think second was the best we could have managed, this was the target and, like you know, I don’t often say my target is to be second!”

Asked if his fellow world champion’s preferable start position helped him, Ogier remained magnanimous, saying: “The start position would have been a big thing, but even in equal [place on the road] it would have been very difficult to fight with him.”

Ogier will have another chance to take on his team-mate on similar terrain at this week’s Secto Rally Finland (1 – 4 August), round nine of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship. While he has won the event once in 2013, Rovanperä is still searching for his maiden triumph on home soil.

“Rally Finland is a unique event in the championship that I think every driver loves to drive,” Ogier said. “I’ll try to bring everything I can to achieve the best team result. After a break from driving in really fast rallies, I think I had some good speed and a good weekend in Latvia and I hope to bring that to Finland.”