Actualities
Strokšs: Eurosport management is excited about our round
31.12.2012

In order to find out the current information related with the expected rally, the Portal Go4speed once again got in touch with the Director of „RA Motosport” and the Organizer of the "Rally Liepāja-Ventspils" Raimonds Strokšs, who told us the latest news.

Recently you were in Paris. What was the aim of your visit and how did it go?

Everything went smoothly in Paris — I went there to see the IRC Awarding Ceremony. It could be felt that all Eurosport management is excited about our round as I was introduced with all teams. Surely, in an event of this kind I managed to talk with different sportsmen, organizers of other rally events and team representatives. This was a valuable visit indeed.

Gergo Szabo has applied for participation in the "Rally Liepāja-Ventspils". Photo by ewrc.cz

Probably, currently you start receiving first applications…

Yes, right now we start receiving first applications. Of course, many sportsmen still communicate via e-mail and want to clarify different nuances, but interest can be felt, and this is the most important. I think that after all the list of participants will be good.

How do you think — will the list of participants of the "Rally Liepāja-Ventspils" be longer than the list of the first ERC round in Austria?

It is hard to say, as the first ERC round at the same time will be a championship of several countries, which definitely makes the list of participants longer. Eurosport says that each day they receive more and more e-mails, so there is interest. Even now, if we look at our current list of participants, it is for sure that none of them will participate in Austria. Certainly, the majority of applications will be received after the Austrian round, however it is hard to say, whether we will have more or less participants.

Simone Tempestini has applied for participation in the "Rally Liepāja-Ventspils". Photo by ewrc.cz

Is there any interest from the major factory teams?

With the factory teams we are still in the negotiation level, as everybody understands that this is a new era. Almost all leading teams currently are working on the new R5 model (substitute of S2000), which will be ready only at the second half of the next year, therefore it is possible that from this point of view time selected for our rally is not the most favorable, as we are at the very beginning. But it is as it is — I don’t complain, and correspondence still goes on, and this is good.

What are the issues you are most occupied with?

It is complicated to tell everything. I even don’t know where to start (laughing). In principle currently we are working on staffing — who, where, at what time, what activity, which post and so on. But I cannot say that we have finished everything and are just waiting for the participants. At the same time together with Jānis Krastiņš I plan to visit the first FIA ERC round in Austria, where we will continue negotiations with the potential participants of our round and teams.

The car currently displayed in the Riga International Airport. Photo by lvrally.com

Recently it was announced that in 2013 there will be the Rally Talsi as well. Does this mean that along with the Rally “Liepāja-Ventpils” you are working also on organization of this rally?

No, we have not got so far. We only managed to arrange that this round is included in the calendar. Right now we do not have time for that. We will think about this event and start working as soon as the "Rally Liepāja-Ventspils" is over.

The Ukrainian Playboy mode Inessa Tushkanova has nevertheless applied for participation in the Rally. Photo by ewrc.cz

At the end of the interview Raimonds revealed that the volunteer programme has been launched, which is available here. “On Friday we published the Regulation of the 1st and 2nd round of the LRC, thus now application for participation in the Latvian Championship has also started. It is important to remember that application till 1st January is at a lower cost. I think that with this discount offered it is possible to cover living expenses, thus I suggest not to wait until the last moment and to apply in good time. Till 1st January also the event tickets can be purchased with the 45 % discount.”

The list of participants is available here.

- In cooperation with Go4Speed