Photo: Egidijus Babelis
On Saturday, June 19, the second stage of the Baltic Endurance Championship took place on the Audruring track in Estonia, where the Latvian team “LV Racing” won the high fourth place in the absolute rating and the second in the “TCR” class.
22 teams from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland had applied for the six-hour endurance competition. Latvia was represented by Flash Racing Latvia with a Lamborghini Huracan ST, LV Racing with an Audi RS3 LMS TCR, as well as Mazeikiu Auto Sports Club with a Peugeot 308 RC racing car.
Artūrs Šimins. Photo: Egidijus Babelis
In the qualifying races, one of the favorites of the competition in the absolute rating, “Flash Racing Latvia” team with pilots Artūrs Batraks, Vilnis Batraks and Tomas Padovani took the second place, giving way to the competitors from Lithuania – “Siauliai RD Signs” by 0.3 seconds. “LV Racing” Walter Zviedra, Ivars Vallers and Antti Rantals were the fastest in the “TCR” class in the competition of seven teams, but “Mažeikiu Auto Sporta klubs” with Lithuanian athletes and Artūrs Šiminas qualified as the fastest in the “A3000” class, place.
On the day of the race, the high air temperature was a big test not only for the equipment, but also for the drivers, because sometimes the temperature in the car was around 70C. The start of the competition was given to Latvian teams and they could start thinking about attacking competitors. In the first hour, “Flash Racing Latvia” took the second place, however, technical problems with the gearbox prevented the continued endangering of competitors in the fight for victory in the race and had to withdraw from the race.
Photo: Egidijus Babelis
After winning the qualification, LV Racing also kept a good pace in the competition and was ahead of its direct competitors with a large advantage. However, as is often the case in endurance competitions, the technique tends to fade. Problems with electronics in the last hours of the competition allowed the Lithuanian team “Noker Racing Team” to overtake the Latvian team, which finished second in the “TCR” class and fourth place in the absolute rating.
In the “A3000” class, the Latvian team “Mazeikiu Auto Sporta klubs” fought with various technical adversities during the race, similarly to the competitors, but the finish was reached – the third place in the class.
In the absolute rating of the competition, the first three places for teams from Lithuania – first place “Siauliai RD Signs”, second place “CircleK Miles Plus Racing Team”, and the place on the podium third place was taken by “Noker Racing Team”.
In the overall standings of the championship, after two stages of the competition, “LV Racing” takes the third place in the “TCR” class and the fourth place in the absolute overall rating. “Flash Racing Latvia” is in the tenth place, but “Mazeikiu Auto Sporta klubs” is in the 19th place absolutely and in the 4th place in its class.
The next stage of the Baltic Motorway Championship is expected from August 21 to 22 on the Pärnu track.
The information was prepared by:
Jānis Straupe, BaTCC representative
