“This year’s Rally Latvija will thrill spectators in multiple locations, with special stages taking place in Jūrmala, Tukums, and two race tracks in or near Rīga – Biķernieki and Sports Complex 333. By now, everyone should be familiar with the Ķemeri jump or with the technical roads of Tukums region!” begins Rally Latvija organizer Jānis Krastiņš. “Rally Latvija 2016 can be compared to a supermarket – to joy the spectators, we have gathered many different disciplines that you will be able to view in a single location, one after the other. An important change from previous years is that Historic Rally Latvija will now, in addition to regularity, also have a sports class, competing for the fastest stage times!”

“Autobrava relates their work, and this rally, with tradition. Some time ago, I was a mechanic to rally driver Vecvagars, so rallying is familiar to me. Similarly to a rally crew, Autobrava puts a high value on both tradition and teamwork, without which you cannot achieve greanesst! In the name of Autobrava, I invite everyone to come to Biķernieki to test the new SEAT Ateca in a completely new way! On Saturday morning, we will have another surprise waiting in Biķernieki – “Autobrava winner’s race”, which will be a competition between past winners of Rally Latvija!” Autobrava director Andris Sivickis invites everyone to attend Rally Latvija.

““My objective is to drive quickly and gain experience, and only after that I will think about winning the championship! I will definitely not refuse the champions title if everything goes well!” sixteen year old Finnish driver Kalle Rovanpera is in a good mood before the event.

“This has been a very successful year! We have fulfilled our goal of competing in every gravel rally of the European Rally Championship, and managed to also take part in one tarmac rally, which was not in our initial season plan. I am anxious for the weekend and this race – this will be something unusual for me, as I will not be competing in rally, but instead race in Minirally Latvija! Switching from a Škoda Fabia R5 to a BMW 316 will definitely be interesting. However, I can already tell you that we will be sliding and drifting the car, to make it more fun for us and the spectators!” says Ralfs Sirmacis, who was third in the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship.

“Together with my brother, we have been building this Audi Quattro since 2012. Currently, the goal is to build the engine to the top specification (400 horsepower and 600 Nm of torque) while keeping it recognizable. In this rally, our car will have 320 HP and 570 Nm of torque, and we can’t wait to get out on the stages with the car! This will be the first event for the Audi, as it had been in various stages of the build for these past few years. We are a bit scared of this event, but, at the same time, very keen to see our result!” says co-driver Andris Velme.

Rally Latvia takes place on October 22 and 23, and in the city of Jūrmala, surroundings of Tukums, as well as two racetracks – Biķernieki circuit and Sports complex 333 will host not only modern rally cars, but also historic cars. Crews competing with modern rally cars will be battling in three separate events – the Latvian Rally Championship, FIA European Rally Cup, and the Baltic Rally Cup. Meanwhile, those who are just beginning their rally careers, and are looking to compete in the longer distances in the near future, will be able to race in three events based on their current capabilities – rallysprint, rally supersprint and minirally! Historic Rally Latvia has also served up something special for this year – in addition to a regularity rally, historic cars will also compete for the fastest times on the stages.

Rally Latvija tickets are now on sale in Hydroscand locations in Rīga and Tukums!

Rally Latvia would like to thank its partner – Jūrmala city council – for their support in organizing the final event of the 2016 Latvian Rally Championship, and would like to thank sponsors Conti STL and DMACK. Thank you to supporters Autobrava, Hydroscand and Prodex. Informative support is provided by TVNET.

More information about the event, and the results of Rally Latvia, is available on the official Latvian Rally Championship website http://autorally.lv/, as well as on social media: Twitter, facebook, and YouTube.

Jānis Unbedahts, RA EVENTS. Photo: Raimonds Volonts