The second day of Rally Talsi was eventful and the 24,76 km last stage, SS11 Neste Futura, was needed to decide the winners in multiple categories. As has been the case in previous years, the battle for victory in this closing stage took place up to the very last meters. Estonians Jeets/Toom had a solid pace throughout the day and didn’t make any mistakes in the last stage, unlike their two main rivals, therefore securing a win both in R5 class and in overall classification.

“We got into the lead early, but there was a lot of pressure from others – especially Travnikov and Švedas. Starting the second day first on the road made for added pressure as the surface was very slippery and making a costly error would be very easy. Of course, we did make some minor mistakes, but the main goal of finishing the rally was reached. Having done so while also winning the rally is just perfect,” said a happy Raul Jeets.

In the Champions rally, where four national champions, from Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Kuwait took part, the Belarussian national champions, Lithuanians Vytautas Švedas / Žilvinas Sakalauskas (JUTA Racing) won the trophy. In the six year history of Rally Talsi, each of which also has had a Champions rally, Švedas/Sakalauskas won for the second time. “It is always great to return to Talsi. The stages are fast and challenging and the competition is fierce, which means that you have to focus from the beginning of the first stage. Unfortunately we punctured a tyre on the last stage and couldn’t fight for the overall win, but winning the Champions cup was a great consolation prize. This is a trophy that is passed on from one winner to the next each year, but we are hoping that if we win for the third time, the organizers will let us keep it,” mentioned Švedas and Sakalauskas who seemed to be in a joyful mood after the race.

Latvian champions, Aivis Egle / Andis Dauga (PROSPEED, +35,28 seconds behind Švedas / Sakalauskas) managed to get second place in the Champions cup on the very last stage, moving Lithuanian champions Ramūnas Čapkauskas / Tomas Šipkauskas (Capkauskas Racing, +43,83 seconds) down to third. Salah Bin Eidan (MM-MOTORSPORT) from Kuwait, finished fourth, 3 minutes an 18,59 seconds behind Švedas / Sakalauskas: “This was a fantastic rally and I learned a lot for my next races. The atmosphere was great as well, and if the conditions are as good as they were this year, I truly hope that it will be possible for me to return here next year.”

„This is the sixth year when Rally Talsi is also known as the Rally of Champions, and, just like every year, it turned out to be very competitive and exciting up to the very last stage. Rally Talsi also had a chance to become a bit more international this year, combining both the Latvian and Lithuanian rally championship events in one race. We also had an opportunity to see the Kuwait rally champion, who had to travel nearly 5000 kilometres to the race, on Talsi stages. It is great to see that our rally is appreciated outside of Latvia and it gives us the necessary energy to keep working to make next year’s event even better,” mentioned Raimonds Strokšs, the director of RA EVENTS, SIA, organisers of Rally Talsi, who was in an elated mood after the rally.

The N4 class, which is the most popular and prestigious class in Latvian rally championship, was won by Jānis Vorobjovs / Andris Mālnieks, who had a fuel pump issue on day one. They began day two in 13th place, 1 minute and 28,97 second behind the leader, but kept reducing the gap to the leaders throughout the day and ended the rally by winning the last three stages outright, completing the miraculous comeback: “We tried to keep a safe pace on day one, but hit a rock and had fuel pump issues, which meant that we had to push very hard on the second day in order to get as many points in the championship as possible. It is great to also get the extra points from the Power Stage, they are sure to come in handy at the end of the season,” admitted Jānis Vorobjovs after winning the N4 class.

Haralds Šlēgelmilhs and Artūrs Pumpurs, who raced with the support of RH3 Fonds to raise awareness of children with cancer, concluded the rally in 11th place overall. “These were very emotional two days, as taking part in Rally Talsi would be exciting by itself, but to do so in order to aid a great cause, with great partners like RH3 Fonds, ir a really amazing feeling. And we are happy to have reached the finish safely,” said a proud Haralds Šlēgelmilhs after the finish.

The results in other classes can be found on www.autorally.lv.

Jānis Unbedahts, RA EVENTS. Photo: Aigars Tīdmanis, go4speed.lv