The penultimate round of the Latvian Rally Championship took place near Liepaja city this weekend. With his fourth win in six events, 18-year-old Ralfs Sirmacis became Latvian Rally Champion in the R2 category. In fact, the OKarte Autosport Academy Rally Team driver has become the youngest ever winner of the Latvian Rally Championship!
It should have been an easy walk for Ralfs Sirmacis and Maris Kulss as they only needed to finish to claim their maiden Championship gold. But they also had to prove that they deserve to be R2 Champions. So Sirmacis went for a “being fast, but taking no risks” approach and ended the rally 9.1 seconds in front of his OKarte Autosport Academy team-mates Marcis Kenavs and Armands Kenavs. Sirmacis reported a big scare on SS8 though – it was pure luck they did not suffer a high-speed roll after sliding into ditch and spending a few seconds only on two wheels!
“I am very, very happy now!,” admitted Sirmacis right after the finish. “We were supposed to drive carefully in this rally, but it did not go without any scares. In SS8 we had a very big moment, but luckily we escaped a serious crash. When I saw onboard footage I was surprised on two issues: how did I manage not to roll, and how calm my co-driver was – he just continued reading pacenotes without any signs of a scare! A true professional! On last three special stages I drove very carefully, and now we are Latvian Champions! I am overjoyed with that! Now our focus is on Latvian RallySprint Championship – we are leading also this one, so we want to make a Championship double this year! I want to thank all my supporters, sponsors, fans and team – this is just wonderful season I am having! Definitely the best season in my career!”
Other OKarte Autosport Academy crew of Marcis Kenavs and Armands Kenavs finished second in the R2 class in their Ford Fiesta R2, while their team mates Karlis Nebars and Gundars Berkis came home fourth in similar machenery.
There is only one round of Latvian Rally Championship left – Rally Latvia which will take place on September 29 and 30 in Jurmala and Kuldiga cities. With one round remaining it is clear that the Ford Fiesta R2 will have a clean sweep of podiums in the R2 class. While Ralfs Sirmacis has already become a champion of Latvia, Marcis Kenavs and Karlis Nebars are equal in points and will have to fight for the silver medal in the remaining round.
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- Third win in a row for Ford Fiesta R2 in Latvia
- Ostberg set for Latvian outing
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