The titled driver and the winner of the recent Rally de Portugal will be driving a group N4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X prepared by “Auto Stils Rally Technica” (ASRT) and serviced by “MML Sports”, thus evening up the technical strength with other participants of the Rally of Champions.

The organizer of the „Rally Talsi 2012” Raimonds Strokšs shared some comments on this matter: „As soon as all the National Championships across the world are over, we begin to work on a new list of Champions that will participate in the „Rally Talsi 2012”. The idea about inviting Ostberg came to me last December and as soon as I suggested him to participate in the Rally of Champions, Mads answered straight away that he would love to race in Talsi. I realized that I cannot manage this on my own, besides Mads had spent all his financial resources on the WRC, thus I decided to involve in this project, in my opinion, two of the leading and most professional car preparation and servicing teams in Latvia – “ASRT” and “MML Sports””. It should be noted that so far both teams have not co-operated in such a high level, and this makes this event so unique.

„I have to admit that it wasn’t easy to get two leaders of so influential teams at one table to figure out the way, how to make this happen, but I am happy to say that we finally made a good deal. “ASRT” had a well prepared group N4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X rally car to offer and “MML Sports” kindly agreed to service the car during the Rally of Champions. This way we are about to prove that great things can be achieved through co-operation,” says Raimonds Strokšs.

“ASRT” as well as “MML Sports” are two very experienced teams, and they are well known for preparing and servicing high quality rally cars, especially Mitsubishi Evo’s. Raimonds Strokšs is more than confident about this cooperation and as a result of it expects Mads Ostberg to show some very good results in the „Rally Talsi 2012”. Strokšs: „I would like to thank Ainārs Igaveņš, the owner of “ASRT”, as well as Valdis Spredzis, the co-owner of “MML Sports” for this opportunity. I think that the fact itself about Mads Ostberg racing in Latvia will show to a lot of people that nothing is impossible and that you just have to aim higher, which is what we did”.

We also spoke with both team owners about their cooperation.

Ainārs Igaveņš, the owner of “ASRT”: „We are pleased about such co-operation with “MML Sports” and the “Rally Talsi”. It is not only a huge responsibility, but also a great opportunity to show how well our cars are prepared. I personally think that everything is going to be OK with Mads car and the sooner he will get used to the car, the better the results will be, and the „Rally Talsi 2012” is going to be a very exciting rally for both the drivers and the fans”.

Valdis Spredzis, the co-owner of “MML Sports”: This is a unique opportunity for all of us, so that’s why I think it’s a great idea to co-operate. It’s really nice to see that something like this is possible. Before the rally we didn’t think that we would be racing in Talsi, but when I heard Raimonds mentioning Ostberg, I realized that we want to be a part of it. I believe that ASRT will do a great job when preparing the car, and Mads will be satisfied as well as fast because he is a WRC driver after all and should not have any difficulties with switching the cars. We will do our best to make the Rally of Champions unforgettable”.

Since there is less than a month left till the „Rally Talsi 2012”, we wanted to find out what does Mads Ostberg think about the upcoming Rally Of Champions so we kindly offer you a video you can use where Mads is answering our questions about WRC as well as about „Rally Talsi 2012”.

More information can be found at www.rallytalsi.lv or by contacting me personally.

Oskars Kaņeps-Kalniņš, “Rally Talsi 2012” Press Officer