(Reuters) – Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera went back to his roots to become the first winner of Rally Latvia as part of the world championship on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Finn, who was rallying competitively in Latvia at the age of 12, led from the start in Riga and dominated on the Baltic country’s fast gravel roads to win the season’s eighth round.
The double world champion beat French teammate and eight times titleholder Sebastien Ogier by 39.2 seconds. Both are competing this season only part-time.
Estonian Ott Tanak, who was world champion in 2019, finished third for Hyundai and a further 25.3 seconds adrift after overtaking local hero Martins Sesks on the final stage.
Sesks dropped to seventh after his M-Sport Ford Puma developed a transmission problem.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in Budapest, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
