Rally Liepaja (Latvia) (J) - 1-2 Feb 14

Photos

Posted: February 5, 2014 9:46 AM

ewrc-results.com

Craig Breen takes his first podium of 2014

Posted: February 4, 2014 9:00 PM

Craig Breen began his second season as a Peugeot Rally Academy driver at round two of the European Rally Championship ERC Rally Liep?ja in Latvia and took his first podium of the year.

Craig and his new co-driver Scott Martin had a great start to their first event together by qualifying their Peugeot 207 S2000 in 2nd only 1.06 seconds behind German driver Sepp Wiegand on Friday afternoon. This gave Craig second choice of road position for Leg 1 at the start selection ceremony later that day and he chose to run 14th on the road.

That turned out to be the right decision by Craig as the crews in front including Wiegand who had chosen to run 7th ended up clearing a fresh overnight snowfall from the path of those running behind. It was French man Bryan Bouffier that was fastest on the opening stage closely followed by Russian driver Vasily Gryazin. Craig only managed fifth fastest on the stage but it was evident from his stage end interview that the Peugeot Rally Academy driver was finding it difficult to determine just how much grip there was on the snow covered gravel roads.

Bouffier’s rally came an end on stage 2 and from there on it was Finnish driver Essapekka Lappi, Gryazin and Breen that set the pace. As the day went on Craig’s confidence grew and he consistently posted top three times and ended the day in 3rd. The Peugeot Rally Academy driver woke up celebrating his 24th Birthday on Sunday morning and with another six stages to contest it was straight to work. His charge was halted by the fact he found the now mostly gravel stages were just ripping the studs from his tyres, he even recalled a near miss clipping the right rear wheel off something on the second stage of the day but luckily escaping a puncture.

Craig made it safely through the remaining stages to take 3rd overall and his first podium of the season. Lappi continued to dominate and eventually took 1st, while Gryazin survived gearbox trouble to finish 2nd. Craig admits he could never get into a groove in what was his final rally in the Peugeot 207 S2000 but he was delighted to at least begin the year with a podium finish. You can follow Craig’s 2014 season with Peugeot Rally Academy by visiting www.craigbreen.com or www.peugeot-sport.com

Lappi lands Latvia ERC gold as ?erny bags ERC Junior spoils

Posted: February 3, 2014 7:51 PM

Esapekka Lappi began his 2014 FIA European Rally Championship campaign in style with a thrilling victory in the Latvian ice and snow as Jan ?erný shared the limelight by claiming the inaugural ERC Junior spoils on Rally Liep?ja.

Glamour model Inessa Tushkanova also had reason to celebrate after she won the ERC Ladies’ Trophy in 28th overall and ninth in the ERC Production Car Cup category. Elsewhere, Latvian J?nis Vorobjovs clinched the Production Car spoils outright with young Russian star Vasily Gryazin earning the Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy after he finished second overall behind Lappi.

The ERC Ice Master accolade was also settled in Latvia with Formula One race winner Robert Kubica landing the coveted award after the points he scored winning the ERC season-opener in Austria proved sufficient. The Pole, who wasn’t competing in Latvia, still tops the ERC drivers’ standings, albeit now level on 39 points with Lappi. Gryazin is two points adrift.

Driving a ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 on Michelin tyres, Lappi began Sunday’s six stages with a slender 2.6-second lead over Gryazin. But the Finn was immediately playing catch-up when Gryazin outgunned him through this morning’s opening stage. Lappi, co-driven by fellow Finn Janne Ferm, retaliated on the very next test. And while Gryazin was never able to get back on terms, thanks in part to a gearbox glitch on his Pirelli-shod Ford Fiesta S2000, which he shared with co-driver Dmitry Chumak, the 20-year-old’s outstanding run belied his lack of experience.

But it was Lappi, already a two-time winner in the ERC, who came out on top with a 34.7s winning margin at the finish in Liep?ja this evening.
“It was the perfect weekend with no problems at all and it was nice to start the season like this,” said Lappi, 23. “We were in fighting mode to get a victory and thanks to Vasily for the fight. Yesterday we had more snow than the other guys at the back so I had to be cautious not to do mistakes because of this. Today the road conditions were more equal and it was good to push because we had a clean line all the time. It was also a good learning process for me. I also have to thank my team and Michelin for great tyres.”

Behind Gryazin, Craig Breen overcame set-up woes to open his 2014 ERC account with third place on what is likely to be his final appearance in his Peugeot Rally Academy 207 Super 2000 before he switches to a 208 T16 for next month’s Acropolis Rally. Kajetan Kajetanowicz took fourth for LOTOS Rally Team in his Ford Fiesta R5 with Sepp Wiegand completing the top five for ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland after winning stage 11. Like fellow youngster Breen, Wiegand was unable to recover the time lost on day one due to road position and set-up issues.

A damaged engine prevented Bryan Bouffier (Citroën DS3 RRC) from restarting following his exit from the lead on Saturday morning. Engine woes also meant there was no return for Marco Tempestini. Jaroslav Orsák retired with a broken flywheel on stage 11, while fellow Czech Jaromír Tarabus crashed out on stage nine.

ERC Production Car Cup: Local ace Vorobjovs grabs victory

J?nis Vorobjovs claimed what appeared to be an unlikely FIA ERC Production Car Cup win when he completed leg one in fourth place and more than one minute off the lead. But one by one his rivals hit trouble and the Latvian veteran came out on top. Siim Plangi, who was quickest outright on stage seven, was excluded from the lead for exceeding the maximum lateness permitted under the rally rules when he arrived too late to collect his car from the overnight parc férme. M?rtinš Svilis stopped on stage nine with a broken wheel, while an off on stage seven left Vitaliy Pushkar’s Mitsubishi Lancer with damaged rear suspension, although the Ukrainian eventually recovered to finish in second place with Stanislav Travnikov completing the podium. Martynas Samuitis finished in fourth, Martin Hudec took fifth, Hermann Neubauer was seventh after losing time in the loose snow on Saturday, and ?ukasz Kabaci?ski came home eighth. However, there was frustration for Kornél Lukács (broken wheel) and András Hadik (engine fire), who both failed to go the distance.

ERC Junior Championship: ?erný makes history with Latvia triumph

Czech rising star Jan ?erný made history by winning the opening round of the Michelin-supported FIA ERC Junior Championship alongside co-driver and compatriot Pavel Kohout. While they led for all but one stage in their Peugeot 208 R2, the competition was intense with six different drivers taking stage wins in four different makes of car.

“I am really happy because before the race we really wanted to win this rally in the new ERC Junior championship and it’s a dream come true,” said ?erný, who also bagged ERC 2WD honours. “It was a very good rally and we’re really happy. A big thank you to Eurosport Events and the FIA to make this great project.”

Finn Risto Immonen, who took three stage wins in his Citroën C2R2, remained in contention for victory for much of the rally but ultimately settled for second. Norway’s Petter Kristiansen, another stage winner, was a strong third in a ŠKODA Fabia with Mattias Olsson overcoming myriad mechanical issues to finish fourth with a brace of stage bests. Italian Andrea Crugnola took fifth with Pole Aleks Zawada also impressing in sixth. Jean-Mathieu Leandri, Chris Ingram and Fabrizio Andolfi completed the list of finishers.

Steve Røkland, who led for a time on Saturday, retired when he went off the road on stage eight. Stéphane Lefebvre was in third, having just bagged his second straight stage win when engine failure put him out on stage nine. Kevin van Deijne restarted on Sunday after stopping with a broken gearbox on leg one but crashed out. Marijan Griebel inflicted considerable damage to his Opel ADAM crashing on stage one, while electrical failure forced Florin Tincescu into retirement prior to stage four. Tomáš Pospíšílik was two stages into his first ever rally when he went out.

In total, fifteen drivers, representing 11 different countries, took the start and all but six completed the 12 demanding ice and snow-coated stages.

Results

Posted: February 3, 2014 7:50 PM

1 Esapekka Lappi (FIN)/Janne Ferm (FIN) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 2h13m11.5s
2 Vasily Gryazin (RUS)/Dmitry Chumak (RUS) Ford Fiesta S2000 +34.7s
3 Craig Breen (IRL)/Scott Martin (GBR) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1m36.8s
4 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)/Jaros?av Baran (POL) Ford Fiesta R5 +2m35.5s
5 Sepp Wiegan (DEU)/Frank Christian (DEU) ŠKODA Fabia S2000 +3m16.1s
6 J?nis Vorobjovs (LVA)/Andris M?lnieks (LVA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X +5m42.6s
7 Vitaliy Pushkar (UKR)/Ivan Mishyn (UKR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4 +6m50.8s
8 Stanislav Travnikov (RUS)/Alexey Bashmakov (RUS) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX R4 +7m15.9s
9 Martynas Samuitis (LTU)/Ram?nas Šau?ikovas (LTU) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4 +7m23.2s
10 Jan ?erný (CZE)/Pavel Kohout (CZE) Peugeot 208 R2 +8m37.2s

Full Results: rally-base results | European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com

FIA ERC 2014 event preview: Rally Liepaja

Posted: January 29, 2014 8:14 PM

ERC Junior set for lift-off in Latvia as Ice Masters aim to fly

While the battle for outright victory on round two of the FIA European Rally Championship is set to light up the Latvian winter wonderland on Rally Liep?ja next week, 15 of the sport’s most promising young talents will be embarking on an exciting new adventure when the FIA ERC Junior Championship gets underway.

A new initiative for the 2014 season, the ERC Junior Championship is for drivers 25 and under at the start of the year using R2-specification machinery on control MICHELIN tyres. Counting their best four scores from seven events, including one gravel-based rally, the winner will get the use of an R5 car on selected rounds of the ERC in 2015. The championship will also benefit from exclusive highlights on Eurosport and dedicated online promotion, while the drivers will receive media training from ERC promoter Eurosport Events.

Rally Liep?ja took place for the first time in 2013 when it ran up the Baltic coast from Liep?ja to Ventspils in the far west of the country. With Ventspils no longer included on the itinerary, a revamped route will feature stages in the Liep?ja and Kuld?ga districts only. It means all but one stage is completely unchanged from 2013, while the Rallyofchampions.com stage, run twice on Sunday, has never been used before.

With the stages taking place on ice and snow-covered gravel, Rally Liep?ja is the second event of the 2014 season to count for ERC Ice Master points, which rewards surface specialists competing in the European championship. Rallying on ice and snow is a stunning spectacle as drivers push flat out on the high-speed runs. While suspension tweaks ensure traction and stability, companies such as MICHELIN, PIRELLI and YOKOHAMA supply special tyres fitted with more than 350 metal studs designed to bite into the surface beneath to provide grip.

Following the Qualifying Stage at 15:00hrs local time on Friday, which is used to determine the start order for leg one among the FIA and ERC priority drivers, crews cross the starting ramp on Liep?ja’s promenade at 20:00hrs, ahead of the competitive action getting underway on Saturday. Leg one is based around the town of Kuld?ga, 88 kilometres north of Liep?ja, and includes three repeated stages. Following end-of-day service in Liep?ja, Sunday’s route consists of a further three repeated tests, this time centred on Aizpute 50 kilometres north of host city Liep?ja where the finish will take place at 16:25hrs on Sunday. Fifty-six crews have entered the rally, which also counts as a round of the Latvian championship.

ERC Juniors aim to build experience

While Jan ?erný (Czech Republic), Risto Immonen (Finland) and Stéphane Lefebvre (France) will look to make the most of the experience they garnered from competing in Latvia last season, the ERC Junior category will be closely contested as the 15 young stars look to impress while gaining crucial experience at the same time. Petter Kristiansen (Norway), Mattias Olsson (Sweden) and Steve Røkland (Norway) are well versed in driving on snow and ice. Fabrizio Andolfi and Andrea Crugnola will fly the flag for Italy with young Romanian Florin Tincescu joining Crugnola in the Napoca Rally Academy line-up. German promise Marijan Griebel heads the new ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team, Chris Ingram has won numerous awards in the United Kingdom, while Jean-Mathieu Leandri (France) impressed on several ERC runs in 2013. Tomas Pospisilik (Czech Republic) is a graduate from autocross, while Kevin van Deijne (Netherlands) and Aleks Zawada (Poland) complete the entry of promising young stars.

Serious competition ahead in victory battle

Having challenged for victory in Latvia last season, Peugeot Rally Academy’s Irish ace Craig Breen is one of the favourites to win on his first start in this year’s ERC. However, ERC event winner Esapekka Lappi will also be in contention as the Finn gets his ERC campaign underway with ŠKODA Motorsport. German talent Sepp Wiegand will pilot a second factory Fabia S2000 under the ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland banner. Bryan Bouffier heads to Latvia fresh from finishing second overall on Rallye Monte-Carlo, and will be a contender in his debut in a Citroën DS3 RRC. Russian rising star Vasily Gryazin, who competes with a Latvian licence, is highly rated, while Jaromír Tarabus is embarking on a year-long ERC assault with Kresta Racing. Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the four-time Polish champion, was a stage winner on the ERC season-opener in Austria at the wheel of his LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5. French drivers Robert Consani and Jean-Michel Raoux will aim to score ERC points in their Peugeot 207 S2000s.

Orsak returns to lead the Czech challenge

Seven drivers from Czech Republic will be in action, including former ERC Production Car Cup frontrunner Jaroslav Orsák and ERC stalwart Antonín Tlus?ák. As well as driving his Fabia S2000, Orsák will oversee ex-motocross rider Martin Hudec’s entry. All three will contest the Halls Winter Rally in Lithuania this weekend as part of their preparations. Meanwhile, Robert Adolf will compete in a second Kresta Racing Fabia.

Father and son make Latvia return

Experienced competitor Marco Tempestini and his teenage son Simone will head the Napoca Rally Academy line-up on their second start in Latvia. Tempestini Sr will drive a Ford Fiesta R5 with Tempestini Jr competing in a Subaru Impreza R4 STI.

Race for ERC Production Car Cup set to thrill

The ERC Production Car Cup will be hotly contested, with Estonia’s Siim Plangi, last year’s winner Vytautas Švedas from Lithuania, Austrian Hermann Neubauer, plus Hungarian duo András Hadik and Kornél Lukács all set to shine. Former rallycross star ?ukasz Kabaci?ski steps up from the ERC 2WD Championship.

ERC two-wheel aces gun for Latvia glory

The competition will also be close among the two-wheel-drive runners. With the 15 ERC Junior drivers also eligible for ERC 2WD points, the entry is not just big on quality but also quantity. Category regulars S?awomir Ogryzek and Renato Pita will go up against several local drivers including Latvians Ralfs Sirmacis and Kristaps Feldmanis.

Tushkanova hoping for a model success

Ukrainian glamour model Inessa Tushkanova will be making her long awaited return to the ERC having been able to start in Latvia last year following a crash on a practice rally the previous weekend. Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, Tushkanova will go up against Ekaterina Stratieva in the ERC Ladies’ Trophy. The event will take on added significance for Stratieva, with the Bulgarian driver stepping up to a Subaru Impreza for the first time, having competed in two-wheel-drive machinery only in the past.

Q&A: VASILY GRYAZIN

The 20-year-old rising Russian star looks ahead to his ‘home’ round of the ERC

How excited are you and what does it mean to you to be competing on Rally Liepaja, which is effectively your ‘home’ round of the ERC?
“I am very happy to start in Latvia. It will be my home rally and I think we can fight for top five on this race.”

How will you prepare for the event?
“We will have two days of tests. We want to find good settings and learn something new. I wanted to have more tests, but the weather brought some snow just a few days ago in Latvia and I still have examination time at my university.”

What are the main challenges you face driving on ice and snow?
“Last year I was good on snow-covered surfaces. This year I will try to improve my results. I hope that this year the special stages will be not so fast like last year because my Ford Fiesta S2000 does not have the same top speed of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX R4 I drove last year.”

Can you explain how you set up your car for ice and snow and how important are the tyres?
“I’m sure that choosing the tyres will be easier than in Austria where the grip was changing. The most important thing is to find good a set-up for the suspension. We have a good set-up from Rally Sweden in 2013 and I hope that we will find better set-ups during the coming tests.”

What's your target for Rally Liep?ja and what's your strategy going to be?
“I will try to push! I will try to drive to the maximum of my capabilities and the limits of my car.”

Who do you expect to be your biggest rivals?
“A lot of fast drivers are going to be participating in this rally. I cannot pick one in particular. I think it will be an interesting race.”

Why do you fly the Latvian flag on your car when you are Russian born and bred? “Everyone is asking me this question. I am Russian and I live in Russia, but I have a Latvian competition licence. That's why I have the Latvian flag on my car. I started my training in Latvia, got my first licence there and took part in my first rally in Latvia.”

FIVE FACTS
*Liep?ja is known as the ‘city where the wind is born’ because of the breeze from the Baltic Sea.
*Citizens of Liep?ja, Latvia’s third largest city, are described as tough, wise and daring.
*The Mayor of Liep?ja, Uldis Sesks, is a big rally fan, so much so that he’ll be attending the pre- and post-event press conferences.
*Feeling hungry in Liep?ja? Sklandrausis (carrot pie), black bread and biešu zupa (red beetroot soup) are all popular local dishes.
*Liep?ja’s Olympic Centre, home to the rally headquarters and media centre, is big on variety when it comes to choosing sports – with basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and judo among the activities on offer.


ON THIS EVENT IN 2013

Jari Ketomaa overcame Craig Breen’s early threat to win, as the ERC made its first visit to Latvia. Ketomaa, co-driven by Kimi Räikkönen’s former navigator Kaj Lindström in a Ford Fiesta RRC, had trailed Breen over the opening five stages but moved in front on stage six when the extra top-end speed of his turbocharged engine told on the super-fast ice-coated roads. Breen, in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, remained in contention until stage 12 when a minor electrical glitch cost him precious time and prompted him to settle for a strong second place. François Delecour secured the final podium spot in another Peugeot after a close battle with Russian Alexey Lukyanuk, who retired with two stages left, after a brush with a snowbank damaged his Mitsubishi Lancer’s oil cooler. Vytautas Švedas inherited the showroom category laurels in a similar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, while Risto Immonen claimed the ERC 2WD victory in a Citroën C2 R2 Max after long-term leader Stéphane Lefebvre dropped to second with gearbox problems.

Back to Back season start for Breen

Posted: January 29, 2014 8:13 PM

Peugeot Rally Academy star driver Craig Breen and his new co-driver Scott Martin will get their new partnership and their 2014 season underway next weekend by taking part in the first of two different rallies, in two in different countries and in two different cars.

First up Craig will get behind the wheel of his regular Peugeot Rally Academy 207 S2000 car at Rally Liep?ja in Latvia, round two of the 2014 European Rally Championship (ERC). The event begins on Friday with a qualifying stage in the afternoon followed by a ceremonial start later on that evening but it’s on Saturday and Sunday that the Peugeot Rally Academy crew will get down to business by tackling 240kms of snow covered stages. Craig finished second here last year and although the rally has moved to a different area for 2014 he still admits to feeling confident and hopes to show good pace on what should be his last official Peugeot Rally Academy outing in the Peugeot 207 S2000 as the new Peugeot 208 T16 is due to replace it for his next ERC round in March. He confesses to being a little sad to see the 207 S2000 go as it holds both good and bad memories for him in his career but he’s relishing the opportunity of driving the new 208 T16 in competition after being instrumental in the development of the car over the past year.

With no time for his 24th birthday celebrations on the Sunday in Latvia Craig will head straight off into the unknown as he describes it to compete at Rally Sweden from the 5th to the 8th of February. This is the second round of the 2014 World Rally Championship (WRC) and this time Craig with permission from Peugeot Sport will be behind the wheel of a WRC. Albeit more familiar territory for Craig having competed on the event twice before, he has never done so in full WRC machinery. On both previous events he very successfully used an S2000 car and his 2nd place in 2012 contributed to him winning the SWRC title later on that year. Craig is taking nothing for granted saying
”Even though I’ve competed here before it will be a real baptism of fire for me and a completely different experience in this Car”. There is no doubt that the demanding schedule of both events will test Craig’s skill, talent and fitness level to the max but the Peugeot Rally Academy driver rarely if ever disappoints. You can follow Craig’s progress during both events by visiting www.craigbreen.com

Seeded Entry List

Posted: January 29, 2014 7:42 PM

Rally Liepaja (Latvia) (J) - 1-2 Feb 14- SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Video: View from Above.

Posted: January 29, 2014 8:49 AM

ERC ACE BREEN PREDICTS CLOSE BATTLE FOR LATVIA VICTORY

Posted: January 24, 2014 8:45 AM

FIA European Rally Championship title contender Craig Breen is predicting a thrilling battle for victory on next week’s Rally Liep?ja, the second event of the 2014 season.

Breen excelled when the winter rally joined the ERC roster for the first time last year and is one of the hot favourites to win this year’s running of the ice and snow spectacular, which features a 56-car entry and 12 stages over a competitive distance of 240.56 kilometres.

“It’s going to be a really good event,” said Irishman Breen. “There are Regional Rally Cars, R5 cars and Super 2000 cars and it’s going to be a really close battle between all of them. The cars all have their advantages and disadvantages so it’s going to be a really big fight.”

Breen, who will turn 24 on the final day of the event, will compete in a Peugeot Rally Academy 207 Super 2000. His rivals include Bryan Bouffier, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Esapekka Lappi, Sepp Wiegand and young Russian Vasily Gryazin, who flies the Latvian flag on his Ford Fiesta S2000.

Entries Received (Final)

Posted: January 17, 2014 8:44 AM

Rally Liepaja (Latvia) (J) - 1-2 Feb 14 - ENTRIES RECEIVED

Rally Guide / Website / Details

Posted: November 25, 2013 2:21 PM

Liepaja-Ventspils (Latvia)

European Rally Championship (ERC) - fiaerc.com