The day began with Oliver Solberg (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) setting the fastest time on SS1 Talsi, which has an additional benefit this year – for winning the stage, Oliver will receive a special prize from the city of Talsi.
On SS2 Swecon, the quickest time was set by Nikolay Gryazin (Hyundai i20 R5), confirming that the victory in this event will have to be earned in a tough battle. Solberg won SS3 SC Grupa, but the final stage of the day, SS4 Ramirent, was won by Alexey Lukyanuk (Citroen C3 R5), which let him finish the day in third place overall, 16 seconds behind the leader.
Unfortunately, the final stage of the day did not go well for everyone – Gryazin made a mistake in one of the corners and had to retire from the event. [Though, restart on Leg2 is not rulesd out] Although the crew is ok, this unfortunately means that one of the favourites to win the event will not be able to continue.
Mads Østberg (Citroen C3 R5) showed consistent pace throughout the day and, despite not setting the fastest time in any of the stages, did not make any significant mistakes, finishing the day in second place, just 10 seconds behind the leader.
After day one of Rally Liepāja, Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis are twentieth overall (and first in ERC3 class), Reinis Nitišs / Andris Mālnieks are twenty-fourth (fourth in ERC3), Dmitry Feofanov / Normunds Kokins are twenty-eighth (second in ERC2), and Ainārs Igaveņš / Ralfs Igaveņš are twenty-ninth (third in ERC3).
Oliver Solberg: “I was slow off the line on SS1 and lost five seconds. The road was very slippery, but we were still a bit too careful. In the afternoon, the grip was good, but there were a lot of rocks on the road, I hit one in during a corner. The last stage was crazy – there was a lot of dust and I spun, losing around 20 seconds. I have no idea how I could be just 6 seconds behind the top time in the stage, and we finished the day on the top of the leaderboard.”
Mads Ostberg: “The beginning was very tricky, as it was difficult to find the rhythm and get used to the car. We understood that something needed to be changed. Since we are here to test the car, we made some changes – of course, I always want to win, but it is important to learn more about the car as well. We have a specific plan that we will be sticking to. I am not completely satisfied with day one, as we lost some time due to various issues.”
Alexey Lukyanuk: “We tried to be as good as possible from the get-go, but had to clean the roads a lot. The car was good and I enjoyed the stages. We were sliding around a bit too much on SS2, I almost went off the road. There were a few small issues with the exhaust valves and lost a bit of time there, as the car was down on power. Last stage of the day was incredible, although it was almost impossible to see in some places. Driving this car is really enjoyable.”
Mārtiņš Sesks: “It is not easy to drive behind the all-wheel drive cars. I felt a lot of pressure in the morning and made multiple mistakes. SS3 was good, despite losing a bit of time in the last corner. We were sliding a lot on SS4, so it could have been a bit better as well.”
Rally Liepāja results are available HERE.
Videos will be available on the FIA European Rally Championship YouTube channel HERE.
RALLY LIEPĀJA PROGRAMME
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16
10:00 SS 5 LIEPĀJA / Vecpils 1 (16,45km)
10:30 SS 6 Canon Biznesa Centrs-IB Serviss / Mazilmāja (12,06km)
11:40 SS 7 SIXT Rent a car / Paplaka 1 (18,11km)
14:40 SS 8 Invest in Liepaja! / Vecpils 2 (16,45km)
15:10 SS 9 PAFBET / Tebra (6,48km)
16:15 SS 10 NESTE / Paplaka 2 (18,11km)
Rally Liepāja spectator guide is available on lvrally.com.
Rally Liepāja tickets are available HERE.
We would like to remind spectators that this year it will not be possible to buy tickets at the entrance of the special stages, so you should make sure to get them in advance at one of the Biļešu Serviss locations in Latvia or online. Also, before heading out to the stages, make sure to visit one of the ticket exchange points, where you can exchange your Biļešu Serviss bought ticket for a wristband. You will not be allowed to enter a stage without a Rally Liepāja wristband.
FIA European Rally Championship event Rally Liepāja is possible thanks to the support provided by the Latvian government, rally city of Liepāja, as well as the Talsi region. We would like to thank our sponsors Neste, Pafbet Score, Ramirent, and SC Grupa, our car rental partner Sixt, as well as supporters Canon Business Center - IB Serviss, Liepājas Olimpiskais Centrs, Pafbet, and Swecon. Informative support is provided by news media DELFI and media partners JCDecaux Latvija, Kurzemes Vārds, Sporta Avīze, Talsu Vēstis, and Zebra. The rally would also not be possible without Rally Liepāja friends: Baltic Taxi, Flora, FN Serviss, Fristads, Jānis Pūce, Latvijas Pārtikas Ražotājs, Lofbergs, MB Grupa, Meža Dārzs, Red Bull, SignTech, Sportland, and Törley. Rally Liepāja is organized with the support of Aizpute, Durbe, Grobiņa, and Priekule region councils. A special thank you goes out to the Latvian Automobile Federation.
All news and information about Rally Liepāja is available online at www.lvrally.com, as well as on social media - Twitter @LVRally, Facebook /LVRally, draugiem.lv /lvrally, YouTube /RallyLiepāja, and Instagram /lvrally.
