 Łukasz Habaj has described his spectacular moment on Rally Liepāja that is the FIA European Rally Championship’s nomination for the FIA Action of the Year poll. The Polish driver and his navigator Jacek Spentany came close to rolling their Rallytechnology Ford Fiesta R5 on one of the Latvian gravel rally’s fast corners on stage nine, but Habaj controlled the two-wheeled moment well to continue in fifth place. |
 Rally Liepāja, which is a part of the FIA European Rally Championship for the fifth year in a row, will take place on Liepāja and Kuldīga region roads from October 6 to 8, 2017. A total of eight events are currently included in the FIA European Rally Championship provisional calendar, with an option to increase to ten. This year’s Rally Liepāja was won by Latvian crew Ralfs Sirmacis / Artūrs Šimins, who concluded the championship in third position. |
 For the first time since a pure FIA European Rally Championship round takes place in Latvia, a local driver has won it – Sports Racing Technologies crew of Ralfs Sirmacis and Artūrs Šimins won their third ERC event of the year in Liepāja on Sunday afternoon. In addition to that, two champions were also crowned in Latvia – Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Jaroslav Baran became European champions for the second year in a row, while Marijan Griebel became the ERC Junior champion. |
 FIA European Rally Championship event Rally Liepāja began with the first seven special stages on Saturday, September 17. After Leg one, Latvian crew of Ralfs Sirmacis and Artūrs Šimins (Škoda Fabia R5) are the leaders by 30.7 seconds. ERC Junior championship has had some extremely close battles, with the current leaders, Marijan Griebel and Chris Ingram, separated by only 0.7 seconds, while the top seven crews are all within 15 seconds. |
Ninth round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), Rally Liepāja, officially got underway today with the qualifying, which was won by Alexey Lukyanuk (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), who was 0.751 seconds ahead of current championship leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford Fiesta R5). Latvian driver Ralfs Sirmacis (Škoda Fabia R5) set the third quickest time, 1.85 seconds behind Lukyanuk.
Ninth round of the FIA European Rally Championship, Rally Liepāja, is set to begin today with the qualifying stage at 17:00, followed by the opening ceremony. For the next three days, the best European rally drivers will tackle the roads of Liepāja and Kuldīga regions, to show fans what they are capable of. This year’s Rally Liepāja is an important event, as we could possibly witness the crowning of both the European champion and the European Junior champion!
FIA European Rally Championship frontrunner Alexey Lukyanuk, Kajetan Kajetanowicz’s closest challenger for this year’s overall title, is stepping down to his own Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for Rally Liepāja this weekend – but that doesn’t mean he’ll be going any slower.
FIA ERC Junior class competitors, before the season’s last event Rally Liepāja which will determine this year’s winner, will begin the race week with a mini-competition in the “Blue Shock Race” electric karting hall in Liepāja. The race is expected to be held Thursday, September 15, at 20.30.
This weekend, on September 17 and 18, during the FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja, rally fans will have an opportunity to feel the thrills of racing on gravel roads in a real rally car, sitting in the co-driver’s seat next to the legendary rally driver, and 1999 European autocross champion, Aurelius Simaška.
Throughout the three days of FIA European Rally Championship event Rally Liepāja, a dance music event CUKURFABRIK’ URBAN POPUP will also take place, with DAVE STORM being the headlining artist.
Rally Liepāja, taking place on the Liepāja and Kuldīga region roads from September 16 to 18, will be the sixth and final event of this year’s FIA ERC Junior Championship, with the champion yet to be determined. Latvian fans will be happy to see two familiar drivers compete – Mārtiņš Sesks from Liepāja, as well as Nikolay Gryazin, who is competing with a Latvian Automobile Federation licence.
Ninth round of the FIA European Rally Championship, “Rally Liepāja”, is set to take place in Latvia from September 16 to 18. In this event, the Liepāja region roads will be taken over by the best European Rally Championship drivers, including three crews representing “Sports Racing Technologies” (SRT) – Ralfs Sirmacis/Artūrs Šimins, Raul Jeets/Andrus Toom and, competing in the ERC Junior Championship, Nikolay Gryazin/Yaroslav Fedorov.
Rally Liepāja organiser RA EVENTS has come to an agreement with the promoter of the FIA European Rally Championship, Eurosport Events, on including the Liepāja and Kuldīga region based event in the European Championship calendar for at least three more years – up until 2019.
The ERC Junior Experience, the brand new training programme for young drivers to be held in the context of the FIA European Rally Championship, will begin at the Kenotek Ypres Rally later this month.
TV6 is set to continue providing FIA European Rally Championship TV reviews from each event in 2016. The first of these will be broadcasted on March 19 at 22:05, with a recap of Rally Islas Canarias.
A cumulative audience of 318.9 million viewers watched the FIA European Rally Championship in 2015, out of those 36.5 million enjoyed happenings of Rally Liepāja! According to a report by global sports research consultancy Repucom, ERC has seen a 30 per cent increase on the previous year.
FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja, which was planned for February but got cancelled due to uncharacteristically warm weather, has been moved to a new date, now set to take place from September 16 to 18.
Jean-Baptiste Ley: With safety very much in mind the organisers were left with no alternative other than to postpone Rally Liepāja until later in the year.
Due to the uncharacteristically warm conditions – with rain and above freezing temperatures taking over Latvia this past week – the FIA European Rally Championship first round Rally Liepāja stages are currently unsuitable for organising a safe and top quality rally. Because of this fact, a decision has been made to work with FIA and Eurosport Events to move the event to later date in the year.
This year’s special stages, spectator viewpoint descriptions, safety information, rally programme and other necessary information for enjoying the rally is available in the February issue of FHM magazine, with Andris Keišs on the cover.
Kuldīga region council invites its inhabitants and guests to visit the FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja.
Rally Liepāja, the opening round of the sixty-fourth FIA European Rally Championship season, will have entries from seventeen European countries and one from South America – Paraguay. Latvia will be represented by eight crews, including the 2015 ERC Junior class runner-up Ralfs Sirmacis, who will be driving a Škoda Fabia R5. The winter event will take place from February 5 to 7 on the Liepāja and Kuldīga region roads.
FIA World Rallycross Championship driver Reinis Nitišs will once again compete in the FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja, representing Sports Racing Technologies.
The rally crew Ralfs Sirmacis/Artūrs Šimins will participate in five rounds of the FIA European Rally Championship. They will drive Škoda Fabia R5 vehicle, representing Škoda Baltic Motorsport rally team of Sports Racing Technologies (SRT) club.
One of the biggest prize funds in international rallying has been confirmed for the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship ahead of the opening round in Latvia on 5-7 February.
Jose Luis Jacquet Rios and co-driver and fellow Paraguayan Hernán Vargas Peña have registered for the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship, the first overseas crew to do so.
First round of the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship, Rally Liepāja, will consist of 13 stages, covering a total of 207 stage kilometres, and will take place on the Liepāja and Kuldīga region roads. The rally will conclude with a city stage in the centre of Liepāja, at footsteps of its newest culture symbol – the Great Amber concert hall.
Māris Neikšāns, co-driven by Anrijs Jesse, has registered for Rally Liepāja, the first round of the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). The crew will race a Neiksans Rally Sport prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N4. Neikšāns took part in Rally Liepāja last year as well, when he was a co-driver and coach for Reinis Nitišs. They drove a Ford Fiesta R2 and finished in eight place in ERC3 class.
SIA Neste Latvija (Neste Oil) will be among the sponsors of Rally Liepāja, a FIA European Rally Championship round, for the third year. This year’s European championship consists of ten rounds, with the event taking place in Latvia being not only the first round, but also the only rally in winter conditions. Like in previous years, Rally Liepāja will take place on the Liepāja and Kuldīga region roads, with the 2016 event taking place from February 5 to 7.
Rally Liepāja, the opening round of this year’s FIA European Rally Championship, has already received 14 entries, half of which will contest the event in all-wheel drive R5 class cars. Alexey Lukyanuk, who was third overall in last year’s ERC season standings, will be co-driven by Alexey Arnautov in a Ford Fiesta R5.
Top co-driver Kamil Heller says finishing third overall on last season’s Rally Liepāja was “one of my biggest sporting successes”.
ERC2 champion Dávid Botka has bought a Citroën DS3 R5 for the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship.
French star Robert Consani, who lit up the FIA European Rally Championship stages in his Citroën DS3 R5 in 2015, says that the ERC has been fundamental in establishing his international credentials as a top driver.
The dates of three rounds of the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship have been adjusted following the publication of the provisional calendar earlier this month.
Promising Norwegian crew Frank Tore Larsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen will enter selected rounds of the FIA European Rally Championship in 2016 as part of a three-year ERC campaign.
Raimonds Kisiels plans to enter five rally events in Latvia next season, with the FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja (taking place from February 5 to 7) being among them.
FIA European Rally Championship promoter Eurosport Events has joined forces with Pirelli to equip the next generation of driving talent.
Frenchman Robert Consani is aiming to finish in the top three of next year’s FIA European Rally Championship having “accomplished his mission” of being in the top four this season: his first in a headlining R5 car.
Rally Liepāja has received the highest International Automobile Federation (FIA) observer rating among the ten rounds of 2015 FIA European Rally Championship.
Starting today, rally passes to the FIA European Rally Championship and Latvian Rally Championship winter event Rally Liepāja are available in select locations in Liepāja, Kuldīga, Saldus, Talsi and Rīga. They are priced at 18,00 EUR per pass until December 31. If bought on or after January 1, the price will be 25,00 EUR per pass. It is also possible to buy them on the official Latvian Rally Championship website at http://autorally.lv.
FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) will return to Liepāja at the beginning of 2016, when the Latvian round will open the ERC season from February 5 to 7. In addition to that, the rally taking place on the roads in Liepāja and Kuldīga regions will also be the first round of the ERC Junior championship, making Rally Liepāja a must-visit event for rally fans. A round of the Latvian Rally Championship will also take place during the weekend.
Craig Breen has praised the organisers of round two of the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship, saying Rally Liepāja is “one of the standout events of the year”.
Mr. Uldis Sesks, the Chairman of Liepāja City Council, paid tribute to Rally Liepāja, following the highly successful running of round two of the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship.
Latvian ERC Junior driver Ralfs Sirmacis has been awarded the Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy on Rally Liepāja.
Rally Liepāja, the second event in the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship calendar, proved to be a tough rally, with the continuously changing weather conditions catching out even the most experienced drivers. Peugeot Rally Academy crew Craig Breen / Scott Martin adapted best to the local roads and came away with a win.
The largest revelation of the 2014 ERC season was, again, the Baltic states, who showed that they clearly know how a race should be organized, said the ERC coordinator Jean-Pierre Nicolas, who visited Latvia to check the next year’s Rally Liepāja course.
