Sesks loses lead to Finland's Korhonen at Rally Portugal after car trouble

The final round of the European Rally Championship (ERC), the Rally Six Cities North of Portugal, entered its third and last day on Sunday. Latvian driver Mārtiņš Sesks, competing with co-driver Renārs Francis, lost the overall lead to Finland's Rope Korhonen during the morning stages. Sesks is now second, which puts his chances of winning the round at risk.

Background

After the first two days, Sesks and Francis led in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Korhonen, the WRC2 runner-up (WRC2 is the second tier of the World Rally Championship), was 10.5 seconds behind in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

Sunday morning stages

The day's first part consisted of four stages. The weather was overcast and foggy, with occasional drizzle. Korhonen, who has won two WRC2 rounds, was fastest on the first three stages and cut the gap to Sesks to 4.6 seconds.

The last stage of the first loop is one of the best-known in Portugal and possibly in the world. Korhonen was fastest there again, while Sesks lost 12.8 seconds and the lead. After finishing, Sesks said he was glad simply to reach the end, as his car had a problem with a shock absorber. This was also evident from the fact that he did not jump at the famous Fafe jump.

What comes next

Korhonen now leads the overall standings by 8.2 seconds. The day consists of eight stages covering 78 kilometres in total, so after the service park the crews still have four closing stages to complete. The start of stage 14 is scheduled for 14:13 Latvian time.