Rally Liepaja :: European Rally Championship 2016 set to begin in Liepāja

Rīga, November 6, 2015

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.

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The 2016 FIA European Rally Championship calendar consists of ten rounds, with five gravel and five asphalt rallies. Two new events have been added for 2016 – Rally Islas Canarias in the Canary Islands, which was last in the ERC in 2013, and Rajd Rzeszowski in Poland, which will host the top European series for the first time. The Austrian and Swiss rounds have lost their place in the calendar for 2016, although Switzerland has been pencilled in as a reserve rally.

2016 will be the fourth year in a row with Rally Liepāja as part of the FIA European Rally Championship. In the first three years, the Latvian event was the second in the calendar, but, with Austria not being included this season, the Kurzeme region based rally will have the honor to open the sixty-fourth season of the FIA European Rally Championship. Past winners in Latvia are Finns Jari Ketomaa (2013, Ford Fiesta RRC) and Esapekka Lappi (2014, Škoda Fabia S2000), while this year’s event was won by Irishman Craig Breen (Peugeot 208 T16 R5), co-driven by Scott Martin from Great Britain. Continuing the tradition, Breen’s Peugeot 208 T16 will be used in all the next year’s Rally Liepāja visual materials. Motto for 2016 – “This Winter Rocks”, which is a reference to both the new concert hall Great Amber and the long musical traditions of Liepāja.

“Next year will be the last in our contract with Eurosport Events about organising a round of the European Rally Championship here in Latvia, so I would like to invite everyone to use this opportunity to see Europe’s fastest rally drivers in the most modern and powerful rally cars battle it out right here in Liepāja.

We have received praise from the International Automobile Federation, Eurosport Events and the drivers themselves about the high level of organisation of this rally. Local businesses have also been happy about the event, as having the ERC round here is a very welcome change in winter, when there are typically fewer tourists than in the warmer seasons.

I would also like to use this opportunity to encourage all the fans to not be afraid of the cold and come see the rally themselves, not just view it on Eurosport and TV6 broadcasts. The more fans we see on the stages, the more arguments we have in discussions with the championship promoters and our most important partners – Latvian government, as well as Liepāja and Kuldīga city councils – so that a round of the European Rally Championship remains in Latvia in the future!” Raimonds Strokšs, Rally Liepāja director and RA Events director, invites everyone to come to Liepāja and Kuldīga.

We would also like to remind you that all the news and other information about Rally Liepāja is available on the official website www.lvrally.com and on social media Twitter @LVRally, Facebook /LVRally and YouTube /RallyLiepāja.

FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja is possible thanks to the support of the Latvian government and the rally city of Liepāja. We would also like to thank our sponsor Neste Oil, our partner Kuldīga city, as well as supporters Baltijas Helikopters, Liepājas Olimpiskais Centrs, Castrol and SweCon. Informative support is provided by the official news portal DELFI. Rally Liepāja would also not be possible without our rally friends: Dardedze, Guard Systems, Holography, Jānis Pūce, Ramirent, Red Bull and Törley. A special thank you goes out to the Latvian Automobile Federation.