Photo: Latvian Autocross
The penultimate, fifth stage of the Latvian autocross championship and cup competition was held in Smiltene, on the Tepera track.
B1600 buggy the class final unfolded full of surprises. Intara Grandan and Nick Apfelbaum were dueling for victory for most of the ride. Apfelbaum made a mistake that cost him retirement. As a result, Kristiāns Grencis won, Māris Riekstiņš finished second, and Grandāns was third in the end. Since the two overall leaders Edgars Zīverts and Apfelbaums stopped in the final, Riekstiņš’s respectable result intensifies the fight for the Latvian Cup. In the overall standings, Sieverts is now ten points ahead of Riekstiņš, Apfelbaums is 13 points behind.
Junior Xtreme the final was stopped because Jānis Kozlovski’s buggy overturned. In the top three of the class – Oskars Zaħītis, Roberts Čākurs and Marcels Romanovskis. To the dismay of Jānis Beierbach, who was the leader before this stage, the fight unfolded due to terrible technical problems. Beierbach slowly cruised to the final finish in the last places. In the overall standings, Čakurs is now in the lead, Beierbach is only two points behind, while Romanovskis is 11 points behind the leader.
Mini buggy in the first two places in the class in Smiltene, the overall leader Kristups Pilipavičs and Patriks Dungveckis ranked. The third place was achieved by Alvis Pinkulis – this is his highest result in this year’s Latvian championship. Dungevetskis is five points ahead of Pilipavič in the overall standings. In third place is debutant Patricija Neikšane.
Photo: AXLatvia
The fight for the championship title is also intensifying Xtreme class, because the competitors left overall leader Roberta Rumbenieks in third place. Mikus Neško won in a fierce battle, Markus Uten took the second place. This is the first victory of the season for the champion of previous years. Meanwhile, the current vice-leader of the season, Matas Zavarskis, was not doing well – the Lithuanian tumbled in the first lap after the start. In the overall standings before the last stage, Rumbenieks is now nine points ahead of Utēns, while Neško is 14 points behind the leader.
Open in the final, Aigars Bajars took the lead from the start, however, the joker strategy shifted the victory in the direction of Inta Jeršov. In third place is Kitty Jershaw, all three finishing very close to each other. Heavy battles for the rest of the places – riders took away each other’s time, allowing the leaders to escape. In the overall ranking of the season, Jeršov is currently 18 points ahead of Jānis Gustāns, who finished fourth this time. Radionov is 20 points behind the leader, and Bajars is 21 points behind.
An interesting finale VAZ Classic in class. Jānis Logins won a brilliant, convincing victory, but there were tough battles for the other positions. As a result, Armands Kēniņš is second, using the mistakes of his competitors, Edijs Zimza is third. Overall leader Logins is currently two points ahead of Kēnins, but Ivo Žilde is 11 points behind. Raitis Gusevs is 14 points behind Login.
Another interesting finale 1600 in class. Juris Narubins took the lead from the start, but Dāvis Údris looked for all possible ways to pass the leader. In the penultimate lap, at the far end of the track, Údris decided to jump to the outside and, gaining better acceleration, passed Narubin. Narubin also lost the second place, because he was also overtaken by Đirts Kuzmanis in the last lap. A beautiful and fair finale. Overall leader Jānis Nagla remained ninth at this stage, but is now ahead of Kuzmani by six points. Pēteris Āboliņš, who is in third place, is already 21 points behind the leader.
Photo: AXLatvia
Shock 2000 Super in class! Going to the start for the first time this year, Juris Smilga achieved a convincing victory, which is his second success in the Latvian championship in his entire career. A great story also in the Viestura Plētiens camp – after everything experienced in Vecpilis, second place was achieved. Ivo Gabrāns with great difficulty defended the attacks of Mārs Murdok and Sandr Viguļus to get the third place. But all this was created by Ritvars Kārkliņš, who dominated the final until his champion car stopped in the wildcard lap. Gabrāns has almost secured the title of Latvian champion, but he cannot be declared a champion yet. If Gabrāns does not get a single point in the last stage, but Plētiens gets the maximum, the situation can change.
The final, sixth stage of the Latvian autocross championship and cup competition will be held on September 16 in Lithuania, at the Pluņė track.
“Top 3” results of the Smiltene stage of the Latvian championship and cup:
MINI
1. Patrikas DUNGVECKIS
2. Kristupas PILIPAVIČIUS
3. Alvis PINKULIS
XTREME JUNIOR
1. Oscar BUNNY
2. Robert ČAKUR
3. Marcel ROMANOVSKI
XTREME
1. Mikus is CARRIED
2. Markus UTENS
3. Roberts RUMBIEKS
B1600
1. Christian GRENTZIS
2. Maris RIEKSTINŠ
3. Intar GRANDAN
OPEN
1. Int YERSHOV
2. Aigars BAJARS
3. Kitty YERSHAW
VAZ KLASIKA
1. Jānis LOGINS
2. Armands KING
3. Eddie ZIMZA
1600
1. Davis Otter
2. Girts KUZMANIS
3. Juris NARUBINS
2000 SUPER
1. Juris SMILGA
2. Viestur EXPANSION
3. Ivo GABRANS
Resources used:
www.sportacentrs.com
