Photo: Egidijus Babelis
More than 110 participants from the Baltic States and Finland have applied for the third stage of the Baltic Motorway Championship (BaTCC) this coming weekend on the “auto24ring” track in Pärnu, Estonia. Among the favorites in the most prestigious classes are also several Latvian athletes and teams. The live broadcast of the competition will be available from Saturday at 10.00.
The COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected the Baltic six-hour endurance race, which will be the first stage of the championship. 24 teams have entered the competition to compete for the highest places in the most prestigious highway endurance competitions in Northern Europe with world-class equipment.
Last season’s vice-champions “Flash Racing Latvia” with a Lamborghini “Huracan ST” car are also among the favorites. The biggest competitors for the Latvian team will be several Lithuanian teams with Porsche “GT3 CUP” cars. In the “TCR” class, where identical cars compete, the only Latvian team “LV Racing” with a very strong racing team will start – Konstantin Calko, who is the only motorist from the Baltic States who has competed in the Le Mans 24h race, as well as Audi factory pilot Estonian Martin Rump.
In the “TCR” sprint competition class, Latvian fans will be hoped for by Ģirts Krūzmanis, a multiple Baltic highway champion and Sports Racing Technologies team leader, who will sit at the wheel of the “AUDI RS3 LMS TCR” for the first time, announcing his ambitions to become a champion and remind for itself for the whole world highway family.
In the BMW 325 CUP class, 15 cars from Lithuania and Latvia will start. If in the first stage of the season there were only 6 participants in Kaunas, then the competition in Pärnu will be very intense. The class is designed as a budget opportunity to compete on the track with the same cars at a regulated cost. The same engines, tires, gearboxes and brake discs ensure lower costs and more competition.
The winners of the second stage of both races, Artjoms Kočlamazašvili, will try to get closer to the leaders of the championship Ramūnas Čapkauskas and Matīss Mežaks: “Every day only thoughts about the competition come to mind. The cars are very similar on the track and that means aggressive fights for every inch. The plan is to reduce the distance from the championship leaders, but I consider Tomas Bērziņš and Lithuanian Andrius Čilvinas to be the biggest competitors. There will be very interesting competitions, which will definitely attract more and more participants, making this series a real Baltic championship! ”
In the most powerful car class “BGT PRO” Vilnis Batraks with Lamborghini “Huracan ST” car will defend the championship honor against fast Lithuanian and Estonian athletes with Lamborghini and Porsche cars, as well as against Danish athlete Frederik Holm with prototype Renault “Megane Trophy V” The undisputed leader in the “BGT AM” class is Jānis Hāns with the Subaru “Impreza”, however, even here there are several strong Lithuanian motorists among the competitors.
Ģirts Krūzmanis will also start in the Baltic Championship “BTC1” class with a Peugeot 208 R2 car. In case of a successful performance, Ģirts will be able to be crowned the Baltic champion after three stages. Atis Veismanis will defend the honor in “BTC2” class.
The undisputed leader in the class of historical formulas in recent years has been Andris Griķis, who will also start in races in Pärnu. Raitis Mūrnieks and Italian Alsiņš will also start among the 12 participants in this class.
Several Latvian teams have also applied for the “Nankang Endurance Academy” or two-hour endurance competition between 18 teams. In the “BTC2” class, “Team Rexona Men” and “MSD Racing” will prove their ambitions, but in the “BMW 325 CUP” class we will see the “WRR”, “79” and “Papa’s Racing TEAM” teams at the start.
The information was prepared by:
