Photo: Vilius Šaltenis
This weekend, 14-16. “Rally Liepāja” will take place in August, during which there will be bright battles between the participants of the European Rally Championship, as well as the fastest crews of the Latvian Rally Championship and the Baltic Rally Trophy. The rally will take place in Talsi region, where this year four stages will be planned and in the vicinity of Liepaja – Durbe, Aizpute, Grobiņa and Priekule, where we will see participants in six stages.
Latvian Rally Championship
The crews of the Latvian Rally Championship will have more tension to participate in the competition, as two stages of the championship will be completed. 22 rally crews from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia have applied for participation in LRC, which are divided into six test groups: absolute rating “LRC ABS”, “LRC1”, “LRC2”, “LRC3”, “LRC4” and “LRC5”.
After the first stage of the competition “Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2020” at the top of the LRC absolute rating list is the Russian athlete crew Nikolajs Grjazins / Konstantin Aleksandrovs. The second and third positions were taken by two Latvian crews, in the 2nd position Guntis Lielkājis / Vilnis Miķelsons, and the third Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis.
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Photo: Alfonsas Rakauskas Photography
LRČ1: 1. Guntis / Lielkājis, 2. Mikolajs Kempa / Marcins Szeja, Ranno Bundsens / Roberts Loštšenikov. In the “Rally Liepāja” LRČ1 test group we will also see already known Latvian rally crews: Jānis Vorobjovs / Ivo Pūķis, Edijs Bergmanis / Edgars Grīns, Elviss Hermanis / Gatis Veilands.
LRČ2: 1. Dimitrijs Feofanovs / Normunds Kokins, 2. Gediminas Maškauskas, 3. Jonas Sluckus / Giedrius Šileikis. Latvian athletes Ainārs Igaveņš / Ralfs Igaveņš will also start “Rally Liepāja”.
LRČ3: 1. Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis, 2. Gregors Jēts / Kuldars Sīks, 2. Reinis Nitišs / Ralfs Igaveņš. Two crews of Latvian athletes will be joined by another – the young pilot, who will start under the Latvian flag: Fabio Švarcs (15) with coxswain Den Zenz.
LRČ5: 1. Uldis Lepiksons / Ainars Šteinbergs, 2. Audronis Gulbinas / Vytis Pauliukonis, 3. Aleksandrs Jakoveļevs / Valerijs Maslovs. The first place winners will be joined by 4 Latvian crews: Arvis Vecvagars / Gints Gaiķis, Ivars Liepiņš / Jānis Sokolvs, Klāvs Danne / Ojārs Mednis, Arturs Ozoliņš / Valters Zambergs.
FIA ERT Baltic Rally Trophy
This year the FIA Baltic Rally trophy takes place in two stages – the already completed “Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2020” and the “Rally Liepāja 2020” stage expected this weekend.
TOP3 by groups after the first stage of the competition in Lithuania:
ARE: 1. Nikolajs Grjazins / Konstantins Aleksandrovs, 2. Vaidotas Žala / Andris Mālnieks, 3. Theme in Asunma / Topi Luhtinen
ERT2: 1. Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis, 2. Gregors Jēts / Kuldars Sīks, 2. Reinis Nitišs / Ralfs Igaveņš
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Photo: Facebook / Lithuanian Automobile Sports Federation
In the Liepāja stage in the list of BRT participants with the Latvian flag: Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis, Reinis Nitišs / Andris Mālnieks, Ainārs Igaveņš / Ralfs Igaveņš, as well as Dimitrijs Feofanovs / Normunds Kokins.
The FIA Baltic Rally Trophy is a racing format developed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) that replaces the FIA European Rally Trophy multi-stage format with the introduction of regional trophies. According to the sports hierarchy, the FIA Baltic Rally Trophy can be ranked as a step between the national championship and the FIA European Rally Championship.
The regional trophy system created by the FIA provides an excellent opportunity for rally crews to gain experience in the first international competition, while minimizing the financial resources required for participation, as the planned stages take place in a nearby region.
The three fastest crews from each region will take part in the competition “23. Int. ADMV-Lausitz-Rallye ”, which will take place from 5 to 7 November in Germany, where they will compete for the European Rally Trophy together with other regional rally winners.
The information was prepared by:
LAF Taken
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