By RSL Staff –
July 23, 2012Posted in: News
The biggest rallying event in the Baltic States – auto24 Rally Estonia – took place last weekend. It was round three of the Estonian Rally Championship and round five of the Latvian Rally Championship. After more than 160 kilometres of competitive stages, the OKarte Autosport Academy crew of Ralfs Sirmacis / Maris Kulss brought their Ford Fiesta R2 home to secure the A6 class victory – as well as third overall in the 2WD category – and their career-best finish outside of Latvia.
With 121 cars starting – 66 of those being 2WD cars, and 11 crews starting the A6 category – the event promised a thrilling battle. With Fords winning overall – courtesy of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC of Mads Østberg / Jonas Anderson and the Ford Escort RS of Jari-Mati Latvala / Asko Sairanen in the historic event – there was also glory for Ford in the A6 class.
18-year-old Sirmacis took control of the A6 class on the very first special stage and never looked back – winning the event by a comfortable 3 minutes and 21.3 seconds.
“I think we did pretty well considering how tough the competition was. We are very satisfied with our A6 win, although we were aiming for 2WD glory as well,” said Sirmacis at the finish.
There were good performances from other Ford Fiesta R2 as well. The Polish crew of Hubert Ptaszek / Bartolomiej Boba made it to the finish in fourth place in the A6 category. Latvians Marcis Kenavs / Armands Kenavs were fourth in the A6 class after nine of 12 special stages with their team-mates Karlis Nebars Gundars / Berkis fifth, but as the last three stages did not count for the Latvian Rally Championship, both crews elected not to contest the final stages.
The next round of the Latvian Rally Championship will take place near Liepaja city – rally Kurzeme – on August 24-25, and it is clear that a Ford Fiesta R2 driver will be crowned Latvian Rally Champion in the R2 class as only Ralfs Sirmacis, Karlis Nebars and Marcis Kenavs have the chance of winning.
Related posts:
- Sirmacis makes it four in a row for Ford Fiesta R2
- Third win in a row for Ford Fiesta R2 in Latvia
- Mads Ostberg victorious on auto24 Rally Estonia
- Kumpumäki wins Fiesta R2 battle in Rally Estonia
- Castrol Ford Team Türkiye claim a double victory with Ford Fiesta S2000
- Ford Fiestas claim podium clean sweep in Rally de Portugal
- Mads Ostberg satisfied with Rally Estonia shakedown
- Ken Block Powers Monster WRT H.F.H.V. Fiesta to Victory at 100 Acre Wood
- auto24 Rally Estonia
- Jukka Korhonen is master of Fiesta Trophy Finland
The MSA British Rally Championship and its support series, the NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge, will exhibit at next week’s MechanEx show at Manchester’s Event City. MechanEx is a series of regional automotive trade exhibitions created to enable aftermarket, tools, diagnostic equipment and component manufacturers…
As one of the most iconic events in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), a win at the Acropolis Rally of Greece is something every driver dreams of adding to their repertoire. Mixing rough, mountain tracks with blistering temperatures, this is an event which demands…
The new logo of CROATIA RALLY 2013 has been approved; the tenth round of the 2013 European Rally Championship will take place from September 26th to 28th in Croatia with its headquarter based in Poreč, one of the most beautiful place on the Adriatic coast….
Qatar M-Sport’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini continued their dominant campaign in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) last weekend as they piloted their Ford Fiesta RRC to a convincing victory at the 2013 Jordan Rally. Nestled in the confines of the region’s…
Jon Armstrong became the first finalist selected for the brand new BRC LIVE Media Trophy in association with Prodrive on the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Rally, the opening round of the 2013 British Rally Championship. The 18 year old Fiesta R2 driver from Northern Ireland,…
Donegal driver Donagh Kelly secured his third Carryduff Forklift MSA N.I. Rally Championship victory on Saturday when he claimed victory at Magherafelt and District Motor Club’s Tour of the Sperrins Rally! Navigated by Kevin Flanagan, Kelly powered his Airtricity backed Subaru Impreza World Rally Car…
Seven flame-spitting Ford Fiesta ST Global Rallycross Cars will go for gold in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium next Sunday (19 May) as the fast-growing phenomenon that is X Games rallycross roars into life in Europe for the first time. Ford is the sole automotive sponsor of…
Hayden Paddon is gunning for a rally-winning performance at this weekend’s FIA International Rally of Whangarei, having made further pace-improving developments to the Stadium Cars Evo9 rally car. Paddon and co-driver John Kennard, from Geraldine and Blenheim respectively, head to Whangarei leading the driver and…
Coverage from the opening round of the 2013 MSA British Rally Championship, the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Rally, will air on Sky Sports 3 & 3HD on Monday 13th May at 6.30pm. The one hour programme will once again be produced by the vastly experienced Greenlight…
Draperstown driver Camillus Bradley heads the entry for this Saturday’s Tour of the Sperrins Rally, round four of the Carryduff Forklift MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship. Navigated by Charlie Beattie, the Mark 2 Escort crew head a horsepower packed field of almost 100 crews…
European based Aussie rally driver Molly Taylor will make a surprise appearance at the Scouts Rally SA from 24-26 May for the Ford Innate Motorsport Team. Fresh from competing in the Rally Acores, a round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and ready to…
Hayden Paddon, New Zealand’s top rally driver, heads back to Europe in July having confirmed his entry in two FIA World Rally Championship events. Paddon and Blenheim-based co-driver John Kennard will compete in Neste Oil Rally Finland and ADAC Rallye Deutschland, both in August, using…
Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy opened their 2013 NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge campaign in fine style today (Saturday May 4th) by winning the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Challenge and taking home a maximum 30 point haul on a sunny but breezy spring afternoon in…
Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins took a big step toward achieving a third straight Rally America Championship by winning the Oregon Trail Rally this weekend. With the win, Higgins can likely now claim the Oregon Trail Rally as his event, having won the…
Qatar M-Sport’s Evgeny Novikov narrowly missed out on a podium at Rally Argentina today. In a day-long battle, the Russian emerged in fourth place overall – his best result from the event and equalling a season-best finish in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship. Embarking…
M-Sport supported driver Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari dominated the WRC 2 category at Rally Argentina this weekend. Piloting their Seashore Qatar Rally Team Ford Fiesta RRC, the Qatari and co-driver Killian Duffy were in a class of their own – taking victory by an impressive 13 minutes….
‘Hello everyone, Tomo here again for the last time from Rally Argentina. ‘Day Two started well with some great splits compared to Martin Prokop and local star Gabriel Pozzo. Michał started at a strong pace and had an advantage of nearly 24 seconds over both…
Jukka Korhonen and Marko Salminen finished the final stage of the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Rally 42.5 seconds clear of the chasing pack, making the 29 year old the first Finn to win a round of the MSA British Rally Championship since Jari-Matti Latvala ten…
Czech car manufacturer Skoda has joined forces with Indian tyre firm MRF to enter a two-car team on six rounds of the 2013 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Indian driver Gaurav Gill, who very nearly won the championship last year for MRF, will drive one…
NGK Spark Plugs, title sponsor of the BRC Challenge and partner to the MSA British Rally Championship has added its support for the marshals on each event this season. Marshal goodie bags are provided to the many volunteers that give up their valuable time in…
