Ford confirm issue that cost Martins Sesks Latvia WRC podium
21st July 2024M-Sport Ford has confirmed the issue which ultimately cost local hero, Martins Sesks, a podium position on home soil.
Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Sesks, the Latvian home hero, was truly in the fight for a podium finish on home ground as he remained within the top three positions for the majority of the rally weekend.
Going into the final day of the event, Sesks was under pressure from the lightning-fast Estonian of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak. By the Wolf Power Stage, the 20th test of the event, only 4.6 seconds separated the two drivers for the final podium position.
However, there was a clear issue with Sesks’ car when the Power Stage got underway as he bled time throughout the 13.34km Mazilmaja 2 course.
In the end, he fell away from the podium position as he bled a total of 55 seconds (8m 1s) from Tanak’s best time of 7 minutes and 6 seconds.
At the end of the stage, Sesks was unsure what the issue was, putting it down as a potential issue with the car’s differential. However, M-Sport Ford confirmed it was an issue with the transmission rather than the diff.
On X they said:
“@MSesks was robbed of a fight to hold on to all his hard work over the weekend to keep 3rd overall after a Transmission issue, roughly 1km into the power stage.“
As a result of the transmission issue, it meant the Latvian dropped out of the podium-paying position of third and down to seventh, in between Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta (6th) and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (8th).
Read more WRC here:
- Rovanpera leads 1-2 finish for Toyota in Rally Latvia
- Rovanpera maintains Rally Latvia lead after 200th stage win
- Rovanpera takes overnight lead at Rally Latvia
- Ott Tanak looking for redemption in Latvia after Rally Poland
- Sebastien Ogier to return in WRC Rally Latvia after accident
- Spectator safety issues lead to two cancelled stages in Rally Poland
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
