New race format shows intense battles at the opening of the Latvian-Lithuanian rallycross championship

On May 7, the new season of the Latvian-Lithuanian rallycross championship has started at the Biķernieki track, the battles for this year's titles have been opened. The introduction of the new race format has been justified, as evidenced by the motivation of drivers to fight and the applause of spectators in the grandstands. In 2022, six rounds of the competition are planned, races also in Lithuania and Estonia.
 
Jānis Bergs, organizer of the rallycross races: “We have opened the season with a beautiful and enjoyable rallycross event in Bikernieki! We are glad that we have found an opportunity to make inovations this season, especially the new race format, which has given additional motivation to drivers and the opportunity to watch more intense fights for spectators. It's just the beginning of the season - the biggest battles for the titles are yet to come. We are starting to prepare for the next rounds, which we will complete here at Bikernieki track, Baronu track in Jekabpils and visiting neighboring tracks in Estonia “Laitse Rally Park” and Lithuania “Vilkyčiai”.
 
An unexpected but pleasant surprise was the composition of the BMW RX 3000 class podium. Ralfs Igaveņš, a well-known rally co-driver in Latvia, made his debut in rallycross and motorsports in this round. Throughout the day, driver showed good performance, entering the final after successful qualifications, without the need to go to LCQ - the last qualifying. In the final, the young driver made the other drivers realize that he is a good competitor.
 
Ralfs Igaveņš, winner of the first round in BMW RX 3000 class: “To be honest, I am shocked with my performance. For the first time by the wheel in motorsport race, I finally have a great opportunity, behind my father and brother, to race and enjoy this. I am overwhelmed, it is difficult to understand what has happened, this is an unexpected result. The biggest test was the start procedure, because i haven’t got previous experience, but during the day we improved it and in the final it worked well, there was a free track and we had to keep the position, it worked. Many thanks to my team, the people we have worked with, all have put in a lot of work, this support is invaluable! We will race all season, because it would be a sin not to do that,” says Igaveņš.
 
The most powerful class of the rallycross championship Supercar has also experienced growth this season. In the first round, already known Latvian drivers Edijs Ošs, Jānis Veģers and Uldis Brikmanis were joined by last year's vice-champion LADA RX class Mārcis Martinovs, as well as strong Estonian athletes - Andri Oun, Valdur Reinsalu and Raini Roomets. It is expected that in following races we will also see Supercar class pilot Mārtiņš Svilis and Super 1600 class 2021 champion Arnis Odiņš.
 
Edijs Ošs, winner of the first round in Supercar class: “The new race format has paid off, it is definitely appreciated by the spectators, but my first impression is very positive. If we initially thought that we needed to improve the car and change something, then during the race I realized that I had to work a little more with myself, the "breakthrough" was successful and therefore the result came. I feel happy, the race weekend was great, won the first round. The great work we put in during the stage paid off,” reveals Edijs.
 
Rounds of the 2022 season in the Latvian-Lithuanian rallycross championship:
Round 2 / Bikernieki, Riga, Latvia / 09.-10.07
Round 3 / Laitse Rally Park, Estonia / 23.07
Round 4 / Vilkyčiai, Lithuania / 06.08
Round 5 / Baroni, Jekabpils, Latvia / 27.08
Round 6 / Bikernieki, Riga, Latvia / 10.09
 
Information about the rallycross championship can be found at www.rallycross.lv, as well as on the social networks Facebook.com/ @ rallycross.lv and Instagram.com / @ rallycross.lv.
 
More Information:
Zane Lielkāja 
Rallycross.lv / Public relations
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +371 26612249