On Saturday, December 2, the new Riga Winter Cup season was started on the snowy Biķernieku track. In the first stage, a total of 192 participants went to the start, among which there were both well-known and also many new names. In the all-wheel drive races, the autosprint master Artis Vicinskis (Subaru Impreza) won, and in the RWD classes, last season’s first leader Jānis Eglīte (BMW 3 series), while in the FWD races, the autosprint veteran Mareks Matvejevs (Toyota Yaris) and Artjoms Šestakovs (Toyota Corolla) won the laurels.
Taking into account the large number of participants, this time the organizers decided to divide the competition day into two parts – in the first half of the day, the 4WD, 4WD OPEN and AUDI QUATTRO classes took to the track, while in the second half of the day, the single-axle drive classes, as well as the KIDS, JUNIORS and LADIES competitions, took part in their races. Thus, for all-wheel drive drivers, the competition ended already in the early afternoon, while single-axle drive participants could accordingly sleep a little longer in the morning, as they had to be on the track a couple of hours later than the all-wheel drive pilots.
Photo: Raimonds Volonts
During the last week, the snow and frost outside ensured that the first stage of the Riga Winter Cup was held in proper winter conditions. The surface of the track was covered with ice, which combined with the soft bumps on the side of the track became a challenge for many pilots. Even in all-wheel drive classes, quite often an evacuation car had to go to the track to free the cars stuck there from the compartments.
In the 4WD and 4WD OPEN classes, Artis Vicinskis coped best with these conditions on the track, who won all six races, becoming the winner of the first stage in both all-wheel drive competitions. A good performance was demonstrated by Arturs Danilevskis (Audi A4), known from the “ABC Race” highway series, who climbed to the third step of the podium in both classes. The second place in 4WD goes to Jānis Bruzinskis (Audi S3), while the second place in 4WD OPEN goes to Kaspars Mamon (Subaru Impreza). It should be noted that Bruzinski also won in the AUDI QUATTRO class, leaving behind Jānis Sala (Audi S1) and Andri Vanag (Audi 80).
After all-wheel drives, single-axle drive classes took to the track, including KIDS, JUNIOR and LADIES competitions. In the KIDS class, where participants under the age of 12 compete, Mārtiņš Dreibe (Toyota Yaris) won convincingly, Matīss Apsīte (VW Golf) came second, and Alise Apsīte (VW Golf) came third. Namejs Markus (Honda Civic) won the first place in JUNIORS with three victories in three races, Dreibe, the already mentioned KIDS class winner, took the second place, while Adams Mietulis (Honda Civic) took the third place. The LADIES’ class gathered eight participants in the first stage, the fastest of which this time was Inguna Grišane, winning all three races. The second place was won by Natalja Kamisarova, while the third place went to Līga Kalniņa. It should be noted that all three started at the wheel of an Audi A4.
The largest number of participants in the first stage was observed in the rear drive classes – RWD and RWD OPEN had a total of 61 participants. Former Latvian drift champion Jānis Eglīte (BMW 3 series) continued the winning streak started last winter, winning both the RWD and RWD OPEN competitions. Klāvs Ezeriņš (BMW 3 Series) and Agris Ozols (BMW 3 Series) ranked behind him in the RWD class, while in the RWD OPEN the second and third steps of the podium were taken by Robert Rode (BMW 3 Series) and Olivier Villeneuve (BMW 3 Series). . In another rear-wheel drive competition – LADA CLASSIC – the first three were Ervīns Aprups (Lada 2104), Klāvs Rozītis (VAZ 2105) and Maris Rode (Lada 2107).
Artjom Šestakovs (Toyota Corolla) had a great race in front-wheel drives, winning the FWD class and second place in the FWD OPEN classification. Two podiums also for Einar Bērze (Honda Civic) – second place in FWD and third result in FWD OPEN. Victory in the FWD OPEN class for Marek Matvejev (Toyota Yaris), while the third place in FWD this time for the fastest junior Namej Markus.
The second stage of the Riga Winter Cup at the Biķernieki track will be held in a festive mood, as it will take place on December 23, just the day before Christmas. More information about the competition series can be found on the website www.kalvemotorsports.lv/ziema/ and also on Facebook www.facebook.com/rigasziemaskauss.
Riga Winter Cup calendar:
Stage 1 – December 2
Stage 2 – December 23
Stage 3 – February 3
Stage 4 – February 24
2023-12-11 08:01:36
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