In hosting round eight of the 2024 World Rally Championship, Latvia becomes the 38th country in history to stage an event on rallying’s global tour – but how much do you really know about it?
If you’re a regular viewer of the European Rally Championship, you’ll be familiar with the challenges Rally Latvia (renamed from Rally Liepāja for this year’s inclusion in the WRC) presents.
But if you’re not, or simply aren’t fully sure what to expect from this weekend’s rally, we have you covered.
This is everything you need to know about Rally Latvia:
What is Latvia’s rallying history?
Having welcomed the European Rally Championship for the past decade, and hosted a round of the World Rallycross Championship in Riga from 2016-22, Latvia is accustomed to international motorsport competition.
Latvia was a WRX fixture for seven years
But bringing the World Rally Championship to town is a first.
Latvia has had a strong national championship for years, and Mārtiņš Sesks is flying the flag in the ERC (finishing second last season) as well as the WRC with his two-event program in a Ford Puma Rally1.
But the country’s big claim to fame is the stars its roads have helped to nurture.
Kalle Rovanperä anyone? Rallying’s modern superstar and double world champion learned his craft on the Latvian stages in the Latvian championship – as did WRC2 frontrunner Oliver Solberg. In fact both used to hold Latvian competition licenses.
This is nothing rare, as several youngsters have headed out to Latvia to ply their trade as a competition license can be held from a younger age than most other countries.
As for Rally Liepāja, its history dates back to 2013 but has its roots in an earlier event based in Talsi – 87 miles north-west of today’s host city Liepāja.
From 2013, the event was part of the European Rally Championship and has been a constant fixture ever since, but over time it has evolved somewhat.
Originally held in February as a snow and ice event, the rally reverted to a pure gravel format in 2016 with a new September, and then later October, date.
Jari Ketomaa won Latvia's first ERC round in 2013
But in 2019 Rally Liepāja was held in the summer – a slot it has held ever since.
How did it make the WRC?
In a deal announced as early as February last year, Latvia’s inclusion in the WRC schedule comes as part of a new initiative and tie-in with the ERC.
With both championships managed and promoted by WRC Promoter, an opportunity was available to closer align the two series. Part of that was the decision to reward established ERC events with a slot on the world calendar.
Latvia became the first event to benefit, rotating with Rally Estonia which dropped to the ERC schedule this season but will return to the WRC calendar in 2025.
“It has always been our goal to keep at least one slot in the WRC calendar available to enable an event to rotate from the ERC to the WRC,” explained Peter Thul, senior director of Sport for WRC Promoter, at the time.
Latvia has joined WRC calendar in place of Baltic neighbor Estonia
“Rally Latvia becoming the first to be granted this slot is a clear recognition of its sporting and promotional excellence, and the commitment of the Latvian government to rallying.”
This year’s rally will visit major cities Riga for a superspecial as well as Liepāja where it will be based.
What are the stages like?
In a word: fast.
Typically Baltic with its flowing nature and high average speed, it will be a familiar challenge to the WRC crews after Rally Poland – but not totally the same.
“I think it’s probably between Poland and Estonia,” world champion Rovanperä told DirtFish.
Esapekka Lappi is one of two past winners of the event in the Rally1 field
“The gravel and the road base is a bit different but should be again a really fast rally, so, yeah, let’s see what it’s like with these cars now but I’m sure it’s going to be quite spectacular also.”
Crests and jumps are a regular feature too, so expect epic action shots and gorgeous stills to emerge from the weekend.
Who’s won in the past?
Just two drivers in this year’s Rally1 field have ever won the event – Esapekka Lappi en route to his ERC title in 2014, and home hero Sesks who’s won each of the past two editions in Škoda machinery.
Craig Breen triumphed on ERC's Rally Liepāja in 2015
Finn Jari Ketomaa was the first to win an ERC-counting Rally Liepāja in a Ford Fiesta RRC, a year before Lappi conquered it in a Fabia S2000.
The late Craig Breen topped the podium in 2015 driving a Peugeot 208 T16 R5, preceding home driver Ralfs Sirmacis as victor. The next two years belonged to Nikolay Gryazin (who’s the event’s most successful driver with another win in 2021), before Oliver Solberg went back-to-back in 2019 and ’20; thus becoming the youngest winner in ERC history.
Rovanperä is a firm favorite for victory this time around thanks to his previous Latvian experience, strong start position and general prowess on fast roads, but expect it to be another close-run battle.
