RALFS SIRMACIS (LVA) Championship position: Eleventh

Co-driver: Artūrs Šimins (LVA) Car: ŠKODA Fabia R5

“I try to win again like last year but it’s been a long time since I was last in the ŠKODA Fabia R5, the Azores at the start of the season. I hope in my pre-rally test I can get some good speed in the car to try to battle for victory. Of course winning is very important to be able to find some more sponsors to do more than two rallies in this championship next year.”

NIKOLAY GRYAZIN (RUS) Championship position: Second

Co-driver: Yaroslav Fedorov (RUS) Car: ŠKODA Fabia R5

“I like gravel more, I live in Riga so this is like a home event and I also like the stages in Latvia because they are very fast roads and it’s interesting. I am confident but we will prepare very well to try to win this race. I know these roads for a long time, the roads are very fast and you need big bravery to go fast through the corners and you need to believe in the grip. It will be difficult but if you have the experience it can help.”

PEPE LÓPEZ (ESP) Championship position: Fifth

Co-driver: Borja Rozada (ESP) Car: Peugeot 208 T16

“We arrive in Liepāja willing to leave the bad results behind as if we were starting from scratch. This rally will be completely new for us so our goal is to learn as much as we can and try to recover the good pace we showed at the beginning of the season. First of all, we have to take the Peugeot 208 T16 to the finish line and, on our way, we'll try to be as fast as we can to be able to finish the 2017 ERC Junuor Under 28 season with a podium position. It's going to be tough, but we'll do our best to accomplish it.”

JOSÉ SUÁREZ (ESP) Championship position: Third

Co-driver: Cándido Carrera (ESP) Car: Peugeot 208 T16

“We are heading now to the last ERC race of the season and we would like to finish in style, with a great result that could put to an end a bittersweet season, where we have shown good speed and reliability, but couldn't find the consistency to be on top of the boards. We would like to fight for the second position in ERC Junior Under 28. I'm not content with that, I would prefer to be defending the first one, but at least I would like to reward the hard work of the whole Peugeot Rally Academy team with a runner-up place. Rally Liepāja will be very different from the three last rallies, so now is time to switch the chip and be ready for what is to come.”

Photo: FIAERC.COM