Latvian Drift Champion 2020 – Nikolass Bertāns, who started his first season in the PRO class or Latvian Drift Championship only this year. Bertāns finished the season as the Latvian, Livonian (joint Estonian and Latvian championship) and Baltic drift champion. In addition to these titles, the title of Northern European Drift Champion was also won, which was won in the only stage of the championship. Only 15-year-old Bertāns is the youngest PRO drift champion not only in Latvia, but also in the world.
Within the framework of the “Drift Masters” European Drift Championship, only one stage has been completed – in Riga. It took place in mid-August, thanks to the persistent work of the organizers, and following all the security measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic, 47 participants from 19 countries gathered in Riga. The winner of this race was the multiple Formula D Championship and European drift champion James Dean.
Drift became one of the few sports that managed to spend a full season in Latvia and even in Europe. It started in June and was concluded in October. All Latvian drift official test classes took a full number of stages to fully determine the season winners.
The toughest stage of the season for Latvian drift championship riders took place in Estonia, where at the beginning of August, on the well-known “Laitse rally park” track, the stage of the Livonian drift championship was held. The Latvian drift champion E.Bērziņš in 2019 had a very serious accident, as a result of which, unfortunately, he had to completely remake his drift car, and failed to start this season. Latvian R.Alkšārs, having experienced a severe accident, also had to spend a lot of free time in the workshop to return the car to the start in the 2020 season.
PHOTO: Edgars Zalitis
The end of the season in October was not the easiest for athletes. At the end of the difficult season, the organizers wanted to give the athletes a great opportunity – to ride in a track configuration that is usually created only once a season – during the European Drift Championship. Both SEMI PRO and PRO class athletes started training races promisingly and were happy about this unique opportunity, however, when the competition started, both in qualifying races and tandem races, several pilots had serious accidents in both classes.
A record number of riders participated in the STREET class of the Latvian Drift Cup in the 2020 season. The organizers especially want to emphasize that despite the fact that some of the young athletes managed to participate only in official trainings and did not have the opportunity or time to prove themselves in the competition, one of the most important goals of the Latvian Drift Cup STREET class has been achieved – young entrants have realized abilities are demonstrated directly on the track, not on the streets.
PHOTO: Maris Stiprais
In the PRO class after a long time, we saw not only the usual BMW cars at the start. This season, Latvians R.Bērziņš and R.Alkšārs had chosen a Nissan drift car for drift competitions.
Jānis Bērziņš, who is a long-term drift enthusiast, won a convincing victory in the STREET class and proved himself as an invincible opponent this year. The victory followed the victory, also gaining success in the overall standings of the season. Dāniels Lācis spent his debut season in the STREET class. In the big competition, Lācis proved himself brilliantly, becoming not only the debutant of the year, but also taking the high second place in the overall standings.
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