LATVIA PREPARES TO TAKE ITS PLACE ON THE WORLD STAGE WITH WRC DEBUT

2024 Tet Rally Latvia (round 8 of 13) 

Latvia will become the 37th country to host a round of the FIA World Rally Championship when the WRC’s summer of speed continues with round eight of the season from July 18-21.

While Latvia is a new addition to the WRC, its successful long-term tenure in the FIA European Rally Championship – and its inclusion in the FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar from 2016-2022 – means it’s more than accustomed to hosting high-level international motor sport events.

Tet Rally Latvia takes place at an exciting time for the FIA WRC – and for motor sport in the country. Having finished in fifth place on his debut in a Rally1 car in Poland last month, 24-year-old Latvian talent Mārtiṇš Sesks, who began competing at grassroots level as a teenager, will tackle his home round of the world championship in the sport’s top category. After driving without a plug-in hybrid unit in Poland in order to adapt to his Ford Puma Rally1, Sesks will count on hybrid power for Tet Rally Latvia.

The event is essentially a scaled-up version of the ERC-counting Rally Liepãja, which began life as a winter event in 2013 but became better known as a pure gravel contest scheduled in the height of summer.

Like the previous FIA WRC event in Poland and next month’s round in Finland, Tet Rally Latvia uses fast-paced gravel roads with jumps and crests commonplace. 

Latvia also follows Safari Rally Kenya, which took place in late March, by including a stage in its capital city with Rīga hosting the opening action on Thursday July 17. The first stage runs partly within the former FIA World RX venue at Biḳernieki Complex Sports Base, once an FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup venue.

With five different winners from the opening seven rounds and the championship’s top three 21 points apart, the FIA WRC’s 52nd season is providing action and entertainment in abundance.

For Latvia’s first WRC appearance, official tyre supplier Pirelli is providing its Scorpion KX soft and hard tyres. The soft compound is the first choice for cool and damp conditions, while the hard compound option is designed for warm and dry weather. Rally1 teams can use a maximum of 28 tyres for the event including four for Thursday morning’s Shakedown.

TET RALLY LATVIA ROUTE IN SHORT

The first Tet Rally Latvia to count for the FIA WRC features 20 stages over a timed distance of 300.13 kilometres. The competitive action begins in the capital Rīga on Thursday July 18 with the 11.13-kilometre Biḳernieki Track stage from 20:05 local time. 

Friday’s route takes crews from Rīga back to the city of Liepāja on the country’s western Baltic coast via three single-use stages and two repeated stages around Talsi and the Tukums municipality, plus two Tyre Fitting Zones. 

The town of Kuldīga, north of Liepāja, is the focus of Saturday’s itinerary, which consists of five single-use gravel stages, one double-use sealed-surface run, plus the day-closing, Tarmac-based Liepāja City Stage. 

Rally Latvia concludes on July 21 with two stages northeast of Liepāja and two stages southwest of the city. The 13.34-kilometre Mazilmāja test counts as the Wolf Power Stage when it’s run for a second time from 14h15 local time. At 27.56 kilometres, the Tukums stage, held twice on leg one, is the rally’s longest test.

TET RALLY LATVIA DATA

Stage distance: 300.13 km
Total distance: 1348.83 km
Number of stages: 20

RALLY1 CONTENDERS

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
The provisional WRC points leader after seven rounds, Thierry Neuville is a newcomer to Latvia’s high-speed gravel roads. He’s joined in the Germany-based squad by fellow Latvian debutant Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi. Lappi, whose last WRC appearance in a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid was on Safari Rally Kenya in March, is a previous Rally Liepāja winner, albeit 10 years ago when it ran as a winter event.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Adrien Fourmaux makes his first start in Latvia on the back of claiming his third 2024 podium for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in Poland. Team-mate Grégoire Munster has three Rally Liepāja starts to his name, while Latvian Mārtiṇš Sesks, who upgrades to Hybrid power for his second Rally1 outing, won Rally Liepāja in 2022 and 2023.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Double Rally Poland winner Sébastien Ogier returns to action after missing ORLEN 80th Rally Poland following an accident during reconnaissance. Kalle Rovanperä, who won in Poland as a late stand-in for Ogier, returns to the setting of his first international rally in 2017, the year he won the Latvian Rally Championship. Team-mates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta complete the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid attack. Katsuta is the only other member of the Toyota quartet with previous experience of competing in Latvia to draw on.

SUPPORTING CATEGORIES

With 19 FIA WRC2 entries and four in FIA ERC3, the supporting categories on Tet Rally Latvia are typically strong in quantity but also quality. 

Toksport WRT's Oliver Solberg (Škoda Fabia RS) heads the WRC2 entry and made history in Latvia when he became the youngest winner of an FIA European Rally Championship event aged 17 years, eight months and three days back in 2019.

Of the championship regulars competing in Latvia, it’s Sami Pajari (Toyota GR Yaris) who is best placed in the provisional WRC2 standings following back-to-back wins in Sardegna and Poland.

Gus Greensmith (Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS) is another WRC2 winner competing on Tet Rally Latvia, which marks Canadian professional mountain bike rider Brandon Semenuk’s WRC debut in a Toyota GR Yaris.

Other WRC2 drivers include 2022 champion Emil Lindholm (Hyundai i20 N), Mikkko Heikkilä (Toyota GR Yaris), who steps up from FIA ERC, 2023 Junior WRC champion William Creighton (Ford Fiesta MkII) and his Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy team-mate Josh McErlean (Škoda Fabia RS).

Turkish teenager Kerem Kazaz, an FIA ERC3 frontrunner, makes his WRC3 debut in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 18 years after his father and multiple national champion Ercan contested his final world championship rally. Jan Černý is the leading WRC3 entrant.

Provisional points leader Armin Kremer heads the WRC Masters Cup line-up.

RALLY LATVIA MANUFACTURER ENTRIES

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) - #33
Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Vincent Landais (FRA) - #17
Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Aaron Johnston (IRL) - #18    
Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) - #69

Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT

Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) - #11
Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) - #8
Esapekka Lappi (FIN)/Janne Ferm (FIN) - #4

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)/Alexandre Coria (FRA) - #16
Grégoire Munster (LUX)/Louis Louka (BEL) - #13
Mārtinš Sesks (LVA)/Renārs Francis (LVA) - #22

TET RALLY LATVIA 2023 RESULTS*

1. M. Sesks (LVA)/R. Francis (LVA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 1h22m47.3s
2. H. Paddon (NZL)/J. Kennard (NZL), Hyundai i20 N Rally2, +41.4s
3. M. Østberg (NOR)/P. Barth (SWE), Citroën C3 Rally2, +1m04.0s

TET RALLY LATVIA RECENT WINNERS*
2023    Mārtinš Sesks/Renārs Francis, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
2022    Mārtinš Sesks/Renārs Francis, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo
2021    Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2020    Oliver Solberg/Aaron Johnston, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2019    Oliver Solberg/Aaron Johnston, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
*Event previously held as a round of the FIA European Rally Championship