Multiple time rally champion Jānis Vorobjovs will be the Latvian representative in this year’s Rally of Champions, taking part in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Interestingly, the only other time when Vorobjovs took part in the race (and won the Champions Cup) was in 2012, competing as the Estonian rally champion.

We will also have a chance to see the reigning Finnish champion, Kaspar Koitla, in action in his Mitsubishi Lance Evolution IX, for whom Rally Talsi will be the first race of 2015. This will be the second time Koitla competes for the Champions Cup, having previously done so in 2012 as the Estonian rally champion (finishing third, right behind Vorobjovs and Andis Neikšāns).

Ramūnas Čapkauskas, on the other hand, will try to win the Champions Cup for the third time, having always participated as the Lithuanian rally champion. He will compete in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and hope to become the third Lithuanian (after Vytautas Švedas and Dominykas Butvilas) to have his name ingrained on the Champions Cup. Last year, Čapkauskas finished third, after losing a position on the last stage to Aivis Egle, but on his first try in 2010 he had to retire with a gearbox problem.

The Belarusian rally champion Viazovich is the only one to tackle the Rally Talsi stages for the first time, and will be the only champion to pilot a Subaru Impreza WRX STi. He will become the second Belarusian to fight for the Champions Cup, following in the footsteps of Vladimir Petrenko, who finished fifth in 2011.

“Rally Talsi Champions Cup will have four very experienced drivers competing against each other, having shown their skill and hard work in practice pay off last year with championship titles in their respective countries. I know that each of them have a personal motivation to win the Champions Cup, so they will definitely do their very best to win and have their name written in the Rally Talsi history book.

Interestingly, two past winners of the Champions Cup, Lithuanians Butvilas and Švedas, will also be taking part in Rally Talsi this year. They will surely want to show everyone that you don’t need to be a current champion to win Rally Talsi!” RA EVENTS director Raimonds Strokšs predicts a very exciting race.

The Rally of Champions tradition began in 2009, with the ultimate goal of finding the fastest of champions in a single rally with similar conditions. Since then, rally champions from the Baltic States, Scandinavia, Belarus, Russia, Kuwait, Great Britain and Slovakia have taken part in the race. Rally Talsi has also had competitors with World Rally Championship (WRC) experience – Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Motorsport II) and Mads Østberg (Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT), as well as Estonian Ott Tänak (M-Sport World Rally Team).

Past winners of the Champions Cup:

- 2014 - Vytautas Švedas (LTU) / Žilvinas Sakalauskas (LTU) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4
- 2013 - Dominykas Butvilas (LTU) / Renatas Vaitkevičius (LTU) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4
- 2012 - Jānis Vorobjovs (LVA) / Guntars Zicāns (LVA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N4
- 2011 - Vytautas Švedas (LTU) / Žilvinas Sakalauskas (LTU) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N4
- 2010 - Jocke Nyman (SWE) / Bo Holmstrand (SWE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N4
- 2009 - Aivis Egle (LVA) / Mārtiņš Jerums (LVA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N4

Starting today, it is possible to buy the newest issue of TopGear Latvija, which contains a convenient guide with Rally Talsi stage maps, descriptions of the spectator spots with GPS coordinates and the rally pacenotes of the part of the stage next to these spots. All of this information is available in both Latvian and English, so will be useful for international fans as well.

Rally Talsi would not be possible without the support of our partners. We would like to thank the rally city of Talsi, companion Latvijas Dzelzceļš, sponsors Neste Oil and Talce / SC Grupa, as well as the official car from Nissan Norde. A large thank you also goes out to our supporters – Canon, Krauzers, LaKalme, Latauto.lv, Ramirent, Rudus and SweCon. Media support is possible thanks to Delfi, Talsu Vēstis, Star FM, Top Gear Latvija, Go4Speed, Kurzemes Radio and Ātruma Cilts. Support from our rally friends at Dardedze Hologrāfija, ecoRent, FN Serviss and Torley was also important, as is the support from the Latvian Automobile Federation.

Jānis Unbedahts, RA EVENTS. Foto: Go4Speed.lv