“The Speed Festival joins the “Rally Kurzeme” already for the third year, and this year is expected to be the record year in terms of trial disciplines and the number of competitors. We estimate that on the Speed Rally weekend in Liepāja there will be more than 300 motorised sports technical units taking the challenge of the race: rally, rallysprint, supersprint, dragrace cars, cartings and motor cycles,” tells the Director of the Speed Festival “Rally Kurzeme 2012” Uldis Hmieļevskis.

The first sports event of the Speed Festival will be the test stage for rally drivers in the afternoon of 23 August, whereas the official opening is scheduled for Friday, 24 August at 17:30. Immediately after that rally drivers will kick off the first speed stage at Liepāja street route which will be at the place where the rally in Liepāja in 1965 actually started – by the territory of the former Liepāja Dairy Plant.

The first day of the rally will offer also 4 gravel speed stages in Vecpils and Kalvene parishes, two of them being held by daylight and two – in the dark. The Vecpils speed stage this year will be hardly recognizable, for now the route covers three road sections which have never been used in the competition before, and Vecpils cross route, which will let the competitors to try the first gravel kilometres of this competition. Meanwhile in Liepāja immediately after the rally speed stage will start the ProKart carting serial practice drives.

The morning of the Speed Festival’s Saturday, 25 August, will start with roaring of cartings when the carting competition for the first time in Latvia will be held at the street route of the city.

Rally competitors on Saturday will be joined also by rallysprint drivers, kicking off in the Lithuanian resort Šventoja, located just a few kilometres across the Latvian border, direction Palanga. The same place in Lithuania will be the place of the first speed stage of the day. All in all, the rally and the rallysprint drivers on Saturday must complete seven speed stages, the last two of which again will be in the streets of Liepāja, just moments after carting drivers have tried their forces.

The Saturday evening will be also the evening of awarding rally, rallysprint and carting winners, the parade of candidates for the title “Car of the year 2013 Latvia”, SuperMoto competition, music and entertainment till the morning.

The last day of the Speed Festival “Rally Kurzeme 2012”, Sunday, will be the fastest, for then the stage of the Latvian Dragrace Championship will start, whereas the Liepāja Dairy Plant route will be the venue for the competition of Freko Rally SuperSprint.

It should be mentioned that the Speed Festival in Liepāja will start already at the beginning of the week, when on the beach of Liepāja for the first time there will be the Worl Championship in Windsurfing – the Formula class.

The Speed Festival “Rally Kurzeme 2012” takes place thanks to support of LDz Ritošā Sastāva Serviss, SEB Līzings, Lauma Fabrics, Vega 1, Liepāja City Council and Liepāja SEZ, Canon IBServiss, IF Apdrošināšana, Cēsu Alus and many other companies. The official car of the rally is from Skandi Motors.

Entrance cards to the Speed Festival “Rally Kurzeme 2012” are already available at “BezRindas.lv” and ticket offices of “Biļešu serviss.lv”. The first 1000 spectator cards are available at advance purchase price – 5 lats, later the ticket price will be 7 lats. Children till 14 years enjoy free entrance.

Photos by Mareks Seleņa.