López planning stylish ERC finale

Although the Peugeot Rally Academy driver has endured a frustrating run of late – including retiring from both legs on Rally di Roma Capitale – he has no plans to give in, having led his class in Italy at the time of his early exit.

“We have to put Rome behind us and look at Latvia where we aim for a good result over gravel to say goodbye to the season in style,” said the Spaniard.

Of his outing in Italy last week, he said: “It was a shame about the oil leak on Saturday, because by then we were racing at good speed and able to fight for the top position in ERC Junior U28. But with all the smoke it was impossible to continue and we decided to stop. When we were allowed to get back on track it was too late. And Sunday morning there was the problem with the powersteering and there was nothing we could do to continue. I'm sorry for the team because they worked very hard on Saturday evening to fix the car.”

Rally Liepāja takes place from 6-8 October using mainly all-gravel stages.