SS10: Ketomaa edges Breen on Sunday opener

Jari Ketomaa has begun the third and final leg of Rally Liepāja-Ventspils with victory on stage 10, the second run through the 10.42-kilometres of Ventbunkers.

Driving an Autotek Motorsport Ford Fiesta RRC, Finn Ketomaa stopped the clocks in a time of 4m53.7s, a scant 0.2s quicker than the next fastest driver, the Irishman Craig Breen.

“It was quite okay,” said Ketomaa, whose overall advantage increases to 12.3s. “I made the front of the car a little bit stiffer so it wasn’t a great stage to do that as I was struggling a bit with the turning. I didn’t take any big risks but I will soften the car for the next one because there is more ice.”

Breen said he was hamstrung by the lack of top-end speed generated by his Peugeot 207 Super 2000’s normally-aspirated engine in comparison to the turbocharged unit in Ketomaa’s Fiesta. “I was on the rev limiter for 70 per cent of the stage,” said Breen. “There wasn’t much more I could do but I’m happy enough.”

In the battle for third between Alexey Lukyanuk and François Delecour, Lukyanuk was 0.6s quicker than his rival but said he was more intent on preserving his grip on the final podium spot rather than chasing more rapid stage times following his heroics on leg two.

“We are trying to save our tyres a bit,” said the Russian. “We have used on the back and new on the front so we won’t push as hard as yesterday. We are trying to keep the position and control the pace.”

Delecour, meanwhile, said: “It’s always the same story. Our top speed with this [short-ratio] gearbox is 160kph so we have to wait, wait and wait.”

Jan Černý, the underfunded Czech driver and reigning ERC 2WD champion, has fitted a new set of studded tyres to his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000: “It’s the first time with new tyres and I was not so sure how good the grip was so I wasn’t fast enough in some of the corners. The speed can get better.”

Vytautas Švedas conceded he’d made a few mistakes during the run. The Lithuanian overshot a junction and also braked too early for a corner. Estonian Siim Plangi also wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance: “The sped only came at the end of the stage. I can improve,” he said.

Stage 11, the first visit to the 21.34-kilometre Swecon run, goes live at 09:00hrs local time.