There are 12 crews in the most powerful class, ERC1, where crews are driving R5 class cars, including the two time FIA European Rally Champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Lotos Rally Team), his closest competitor this year, Portuguese driver Bruno Magalhaes, as well as the exciting Russian driver Alexey Lukyanuk (Russian Performance Motorsport). Two Latvian crews will also compete in the ERC1 class – 2016 Rally Liepāja winner Ralfs Sirmacis (Sports Racing Technologies), and Jānis Berķis (Neiksans Rally Sport), for whom this will be the European championship debut. It is important to note that Latvian champion, Kalle Rovanpera, will also be competing in Rally Liepāja, switching his usual Škoda Fabia R5 for an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5, and will try to get used to the car as preparation for his debut in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) – Rovanpera will contest the Great Britain and Australian rounds of the WRC this year. Another Sports Racing Technologies crew – with Nikolay Gryazin in the driver’s seat – will also be competing in ERC1.

Six crews have registered to compete in the ERC2 class (consisting of group N4 cars) – this season’s leaders Zelindo Melegari (Italy), Tibor Erdi (Hungary), and Sergey Remmenik (Russia) will be challenged by the experienced and quick Latvian champion Jānis Vorobjovs (Vorobjovs Racing), who won this class in 2014.

The front-wheel drive class, ERC3, is the most popular, with 19 crews from 15 different countries. Nine of the top ten championship crews are set to compete in Liepāja, meaning that any aspiring talent will have to prove themselves against the best possible competition. European juniors will be joined by Liepāja native Mārtiņš Sesks (LMT Autosporta Akadēmija), who will have to use all of his skills and local knowledge to get a good result. ACCR Czech Team (Czech Republic), Castrol Ford Team Turkiye (Turkey), Opel Rallye Junior Team (Germany), Sainteloc Junior Team (France), and TGS Worldwide (Finland) are also ready to compete, highlighting the fact that Rally Liepāja is a truly international event!

Meanwhile, 26 crews have registered for the Latvian Rally Championship (LRC), with 12 of those also competing in the European Championship, but 14 contesting only the LRC round, bringing the total number of Rally Liepāja entries to 51. Two LRC crews will also be driving R5 class cars – Sergey Uger (Cone Forest Motorsport) and Sergey Popov (ASRT Rally Team), while Oliver Solberg, the son of world champion Petter, will continue honing his skills in a front-wheel drive car prepared by Sports Racing Technologies.

The entry list can be found here: http://2017.lvrally.com/eng/rally-liepaja/competitors

We would like to remind you that a single ticket price if bought on or before September 30, will be 18.00 EUR. The price will increase to 25.00 EUR starting from October 1. Children up to 10 years of age, as well as people with disabilities, can attend the rally free of charge, if they can show a document stating their age and/or a valid disability certificate to the ticket controller at the stage entrance. Those who attended Neste World RX of Latvia can also get a Rally Liepāja ticket for a decreased price of 15.00 EUR, by entering the code listed on the rallycross ticket in the Biļešu Serviss system. During Rally Liepāja, at the stage entrances it will only be possible to buy single stage tickets, at a price of 12.00 EUR per ticket.

Rally Liepāja spectators should remember that tickets bought in Biļešu Serviss must be exchanged for wristbands before heading out to the rally – it will not be possible to get into the stages without a wristband. All information about ticket exchange locations can be found on the rally website at www.lvrally.com. When exchanging you ticket for a wristband, you will also receive a spectator safety information leaflet.

All information and news about Rally Liepāja are available on the official website at www.lvrally.com, as well as on social media - Twitter @LVRally, Facebook /LVRally, draugiem.lv /lvrally, YouTube /RallyLiepāja, and Instagram /lvrally.

FIA European Rally Championship round Rally Liepāja is possible thanks to the support of the Latvian government and the rally city of Liepāja. We would also like to thank our sponsors Neste and Optibet Sporta Bārs, and our partner LDz Cargo. Thanks to the provider of official cars Autobrava, as well as supporters Baltijas Helikopters, Castrol, Canon ibServiss Rīga, Liepājas Olimpiskais Centrs, Liepājas SEZ, NPK Expert, Ramirent, and SweCon. Informative support is provided by news portal DELFI, rally radio Kurzemes Radio, as well as Go4Speed and Zebra. Rally Liepāja would also not be possible without our rally friends: Dardedze, Esi Draugs, FN Serviss, Jānis Pūce, Maksikoms, N&J, Red Bull, SignTech, Sixt, Sportland, Törley, and Venden. A special thank you goes out to the Latvian Automobile Federation. Rally Liepāja is organized by RA EVENTS and Ātruma festivāls Kurzeme, with support by the regional councils of Durbe, Aizpute, and Priekule.

Jānis Unbedahts; RA EVENTS . Photo: FIAERC.com, Raimonds Volonts