January 21, 2016
FIA World Rallycross Championship driver Reinis Nitišs will once again compete in the FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja, representing Sports Racing Technologies.
- Reinis Nitišs / Māris Neikšāns @Rally Liepāja 2015 ©GO4SPEED.LV
Rally Liepāja will take place from February 5 to 7 in the Liepāja and Kuldīga regions, and is set to be the opening round of ERC this year, as well as the only one where studded tyres will be used. Nitišs will be driving an R2 car, like last year, but for this season the Ford Fiesta will be changed to a Peugeot 208, while his co-driver will be Andis Neikšāns, the younger brother of his past-year’s co-driver (and coach) Māris Neikšāns.
“During the rallycross offseason, it is important to keep improving and developing my driving skills. First, we chose to do the RallyX on Ice series in Sweden, but, thanks to Sports Racing Technologies, we will be able to compete here in Latvia.
The long racing distance of rally, as well as the varying road conditions and unexpected situations, will greatly help in my improvement and will be an important part of my preseason preparation for rallycross. Last year, as a beginner, I managed to post competitive times in multiple stages. This year we will try to improve on that, although the main goal is still to gain experience and do the full race distance,” Nitišs is cautiously optimistic before the event.
In 2015, the role of Reinis’ coach and co-driver was fulfilled by Māris Neikšāns, but this year he has chosen to get back in the driver’s seat, so Nitišs’ co-driver will be multiple time Latvian rally champion Andis Neikšāns.
“In the very first pacenote practice, we quickly got into a good rhythm with Reinis. I don’t have to teach him anything from the driving perspective, so we can completely focus on developing the way pacenotes are made and the collaboration between the driver and co-driver. There are still two weeks to go until the rally, and we will spend them doing some testing and working on the details,” Andis Neikšāns describes his new driver.
Sports Racing Technologies will prepare a Peugeot 208 R2 car for Reinis to use in Rally Liepāja, just like the one SRT crew Ralfs Sirmacis / Artūrs Šimins used last year to finish second in the ERC Junior championship.
“I’m happy that, for the second year in a row, we can provide Reinis Nitišs with a car so that he can compete in Rally Liepāja and prepare for the upcoming World RX season. We will soon do the first tests in the Peugeot, so Reinis can get up to speed with his co-driver, get used to the way the car handles and make the necessary setup changes,” says Sports Racing Technologies team manager Ģirts Krūzmanis.
