Tet Rally Liepāja organisers have scheduled a 2.54km city stage to round out the opening leg’s action on 17 June, and the urban test, using closed public and parkland roads, will offer another exciting spectacle following a day of high-speed gravel driving in the Tukuma, Talsi and Kuldīga districts north and north-east of the host city.
Mon 12 Jun 2023
ERC stars braced for Saturday night fever in Liepāja
Drivers contesting round four of the FIA European Rally Championship in Latvia this week will be determined to put on a show when they take to the streets of Liepāja on Saturday night.
The ERC event’s sixth of 10 stages is scheduled to begin at 20:05 local time (19:05 CET) and is based in and around Liepāja’s Jūrmala Park, which hosted part of the Rally Liepāja action in 2017 (pictured below) but hasn’t appeared on the itinerary since.
Among the attractions in store for the fans is a donut zone at the end of Kūrmājas street, a purpose-built jump and two long, fast-paced straights.
“The super special stage in Liepāja Jūrmala Park is the return of the rally to the city after a six-year break,” the Tet Rally Liepāja organising team explained. “The stage was used in a similar format in 2017, however, as rally fans know, you can lose more than you can gain in the super special stages. Crews will make two laps in the special stage along the Zvejnieku avenue.”
Tet Rally Liepāja route in short
The ERC stars and their cars will be put through their paces on 10 stages measuring 183.89 kilometres. Saturday’s route begins with back-to-back passes of the largely untried 27.56-kilometre Tukums test from 11:00 and 13:05 local time. The Talsi stage follows from 14:40 and measures 8.50 kilometres with a section through Talsi’s city streets before it switches to gravel. Up next is the 26.02km Īvande test from 16:50, followed by the mainly all-new 14.63 kilometres of Snēpele (17:40) and the day-closing Liepāja super special stage.
Sunday’s four-stage route is centred on the Dienvidkurzeme region with the new 19.59km Liepieni test up first from 08:55 followed by the Krogzemji stage from 10:05. Both are repeated after a service halt in Liepāja with the rerun of Liepieni due to begin at 13:00 ahead of the return to the 18.95km Krogzemji test, which will form the rally-deciding Power Stage when it’s run for a second time from 15:05 and features a section through a quarry (pictured above).
Dedicated spectator zones are being prepared at all stages and more information is available here: https://2023.lvrally.com/eng/spectators/spectators-guide
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