DOLGELLAU driver Elfyn Evans is looking to build on his “good momentum” as the FIA World Rally Championship heads to Latvia for the first time.

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team  is preparing to take on a new challenge at Rally Latvia on 18-21 July with a full four-strong driver line-up in search of victory.

Evans trails championship leader Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 15 points whilst Evans, Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier will push to close the 10-point gap to Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team in the manufacturers’ championship.

Evans said: “I’m looking forward to seeing what Rally Latvia is all about.

“On paper it could be quite similar in character to Rally Poland as another fast gravel event, but I’m sure that it will have its own specific challenges and we have to discover those and see the stages for ourselves when we get there.

“We had a pretty good feeling with the car in Poland and we hope to be able to carry that forward, and I believe we can still build upon what we learned that weekend.

“Hopefully we can continue our good momentum in the championship, enjoy the event and come away with some good points at the finish.”

This will be Latvia’s debut in the FIA World Rally Championship, taking over the place in the schedule held in recent seasons by neighbouring country Estonia.

Based upon Rally Liepāja, a round of the FIA European Rally Championship, the event will be run over fast gravel roads similar to those found in Estonia, but is sure to provide its own particular challenges for the drivers, most of whom have not competed there previously.

One driver arriving with previous experience in Latvia will be reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä, who began his rally career in the country as a teenager, winning the national championship title in 2016 and 2017.

Fresh from their remarkable victory at Rally Poland following a late call-up, Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen will be making their 50th start with TGR-WRT since stepping up to the top level with the team in 2020.

Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais are set to make a welcome return to action in Latvia, after they were forced to miss Rally Poland following an accident during the reconnaissance.

It will be the first time Ogier has competed in Latvia, as it will be for Elfyn Evans.

Their respective co-drivers did take part in Rally Liepāja previously – Scott Martin tasting victory alongside the late Craig Breen in 2015 – but only when it ran as a winter rally on snow and ice.

Evans and Martin will be looking to build upon a strong second place finish in Poland which saw them close to within 15 points of the championship lead.

While the service park is located in Liepāja, the capital city Riga will host the start of the rally on Thursday evening, with an opening super special stage at the nearby Biķernieki circuit complex.

Friday’s route is the longest of the rally with 120.92 competitive kilometres and takes the crews north-west from Riga with no mid-day service, just tyre-fitting zones before the morning and afternoon loops.

Some of the stages are run just once, as is the case also on Saturday, where the action runs closer to Liepāja and is separated by mid-day service. A pair of stages run twice rounds out the event on Sunday.

Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said: “We hope to pick up where we left off in Poland, where the performance was great, Kalle’s victory was fantastic and Elfyn was driving consistently fast.”