Rally Liepāja-Ventspils

The second round of the 2013 FIA European Rally Championship will take place from 1st till 3rd February in Latvia, and will be organized by the Association RA Motosport. Rally Liepāja-Ventspils will also host the first two rounds of the 2013 Latvian Rally Championship. Along the snow/ice-covered roads of Kurzeme region both the foreign and the local sportsmen in three days of rally will have to cover stages with the total length of 240 km.

Starting from 2013 the sportive format of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) will undergo significant changes. With the decision of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) the organization of the Championship in the next 10 years has been assigned to the Eurosport Events — it has developed the successful project Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), which can be considered the second most remarkable rally championship in the world. From now on these two championships (ERC and IRC) will be merged, basing on the IRC format, and will provide a remarkable and exciting rally season for spectators.

The 2013 FIA European Rally Championship calendar will contain 13 rounds and will be run on all types of surface – asphalt, gravel, and snow. The season will start with Jännerrallye, held from 3rd till 5th January in Austria, and will be followed by the pure winter rally in Latvia. Rally Liepāja-Ventspils is going to be on of two winter rallies, and the only one to be run with studded tires.

It is planned that the first teams will arrive in Latvia already on 29th January, to get used to local weather conditions and properly prepare for a succesful start. The official start will be given and the first stages of the Rally Liepāja-Ventspils will be covered on 1st February in the Liepāja neighbourhood. During the second day the Rally will slowly advance towards the North, and the day will be concluded nearby Ventspils. However the final rally day will be spent in the Ventspils neighbourhood and the Awarding Ceremony will be held there as well.

Spectators will be able to follow Rally Liepāja-Ventspils not only at the event venue, but also in the Eurosport channel in 59 countries — at the end of each rally day broadcast about the Latvian round will be relayed, and on Tuesday it will be possible to see the event summary. In addition in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia these broadcasts will be retranslated in TV6.

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