ERC: Mārtiņš Sesks dominates Liepaja! – Le Mag Sport Auto
With six best times in six stages Mārtiņš Sesks seems untouchable. At the end of the first day of racing at the Liepaja Rally, the Latvian has more than 20 seconds over the competition! It’s hard to see what could prevent the MRF Tires driver from winning this fifth round of the 2022 ERC.
ERC, Sesks delights at the Liepaja Rally! Paddon makes a mistake.
“Upgraded” to a Skoda Fabia R5 Evo, the double winner in ERC Open off to a good home win. Mārtiņš Sesks posted six best times in six specials and even the rain, which arrived at the end of the day, did not prevent him from dominating his opponents.
Behind, Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) looked set to be Sesks’ main rival. But, a small outing on SS3 cost the New Zealander more than 30 seconds. Nil Solans (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) took the runner-up spot from Paddon ahead of his teammate Tom Kristensson (Hyundai i20 N Rally2). But, at the end of SS4, another Spaniard took second place: Efren Llarena (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo). The championship leader was able to contain his competitors to end the day 9s4 ahead of Kristensson. For its part, Solans had a puncture in the last special of the day and lost 9 places in the general classification!
Eighth in 2020, Mikko Heikkilä (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) returns to the ERC and Liepaja and is currently ranked fourth, 6s1 behind Huttunen. Ken Torn (Ford Fiesta Rally2) completes the top5, 7s2 behind the Finn and 1s2 ahead of his compatriot, Gregor Jeets (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo). Vaidotas Zala (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) is seventh just ahead of Paddon. The top 10 is completed by Javier Pardo Siota (Skoda Fabia R5 Evo) and Frenchman Yoann Bonato (Citroën C3 Rally2), penalized by a poor tire choice in the afternoon.
Tomorrow, the ranking should move a lot! The differences are small between the different positions of the top 10. Only Mārtiņš Sesks has a comfortable lead with 22 seconds!
Article published on 2/7/2022.
