The first day of Rally Talsi consisted of six special stages, including the fan favorite TALSI CITY SPECIAL. Overall leaders changed quite a bit throughout the 32,64 km of special stages, giving the spectators a chance to see both great skill in the more tricky sections and some more exhilarating moments when a mistake was made by one of the crews.
Raul Jeets is the overnight leader, here’s what he had to say: ”I have found a good rhythm and feel more and more confident in my abilities and the Ford Fiesta R5 with every driven kilometer. The more I trust the car the easier it becomes to drive, I can take more risks and it helps to get a better result. Since we will be first on the road tomorrow, the roads will be slippery, so it will be important to not make any mistakes, as our goal is to remain in first place after day two as well.”
In the Rally of Champions, the Belarussian rally champion, Lithuanian Vytautas Švedas (JUTA Racing, 4th place overall) is currently in the lead, with 11,32 seconds separating him from Lithuanian rally champion Ramūnas Čapkauskas (Capkauskas Racing, 6th overall). Third, 18,96 seconds behind the leader and 9th overall, is Aivis Egle (PROSPEED) who found a good rhythm by the end of the day and is in good spirits before day two. Kuwait rally champion, Salah Bin Eidan (MM-MOTORSPORT, 12th overall) currently sits 29,74 seconds behind Švedas. ”I learned a lot today, as this is the first time on these kinds of stages. We should be able to push for a bit better result tomorrow, but the main goal of reaching the finish with the car in one piece still stands,” concluded Kuwait rally champion.
Haralds Šlēgelmilhs and Artūrs Pumpurs, who are taking part in Rally Talsi with the support of RH3 Fonds and want to raise the awareness of children with cancer and their possible treatment, finished day one in 10th place overall, 29,14 seconds behind the leader: ”We met with fans and children in the RH3 Fonds tent before the start, and are very happy that there were many who decided to donate for this great cause of treatment and rehabilitation of children with cancer. On the driving side, we also had an interesting day – managed to drive the car on just two wheels during a big moment, but concluded with the second fastest time on the sixth stage. Today truly was action packed.” Haralds would also like to ask on behalf of RH3 Fonds for rally fans to head to the famous Strazde jump on Sunday, where everyone will have a chance to meet with the RH3 Fonds ambassadors – Liene Šomase, Oskars Bārtulis, Haralds Silovs, Evita Krievāne and Toms Juhņēvičs.
Rally Talsi will continue on Sunday, 18th of May, with the first stage, SS7 DELFI, getting under way at 10:00. The final and longest stage of the rally, SS11 NESTE FUTURA, where the winners are often decided, will begin at 15:45. Sunday will have 5 stages in total, amounting to 74,97 km, with the awards ceremony taking place at the Talsi town hall around 17:30.
Complete race results can be found at www.autorally.lv
Rally Talsi schedule:
SUNDAY, MAY 18TH>
10:00 SS7 DELFI
10:55 SS8 NISSAN NORDE
12:45 SS9 TORLEY
13:40 SS10 TALCE-SC GRUPA
15:45 SS11 NESTE FUTURA
16:30 Finish of first car at Talsi town hall
17:30 Awards ceremony at Talsi town hall
