Rally Liepāja 2016
16. 9. – 18. 9. 2016, Liepāja • gravel 203.60 km • Other years
Info
SS13
Not so good, on Saturday we crashed, but today it was good, we ran quickly. The end was difficult as we had no tyres. We will drive in Cypurs with Fabia R5.
Not fantastic, not enough. It was close, making mistakes make me sad. It was good fight, Marijan did really brilliant drive.
For sure it was a good wekend, we were competetive until the tenth stage when we rolled and we lost the chance to win. We got a great chance to develop with Opel and I hope to have such chance also next year.
It was OK, tyres in the rear have no grip at all, it was like driving BMW sliding everywhere. But we enjoyed the, we had a great time.
It's absolutely crazy, five minutes before start we found we had a slow puncture. We changed it but there was different compound, so we did few big slides. I didn't focus on the championship and just drove and enjoyed it, hopefully we made it. I think I did the best drive of my life. Thanks to Opel and ADAC for the opportunity.
Very good weekend, great feeling with the high speed slippery corners. Fanstastic.
We did a little mistake in tight corner and used too much of the handbrake. We lost maybe ten seconds there.
Last stage is always the best. Very good rally, very good organization. Sorry for our results, we weren't very competetive this year.
For me it was a good weekend, I had a lot of fun and I learned as much as possible. Next rally will be better, probably the Cyprus. I'd like to be in the ERC in the next season, but we will see on the beginning of the next year.
Everything is OK, last stage was great and very fast. Thanks to Maris for the fight.
Very good feeling, but we almost crashed two corners before finish. We won our home event, it's great result. Next year we will do all ERC gravel events. Today no party, tomorrow is working day.
I'm happy with our weekend, we had consistent pace. It's first finish without any problem after very long time. Thanks to my team and to my sponsors. I'd like to claim to second position in the championship, we will do Cyprus.
We couldn't repeat our results from the past but we are happy. We are second in our group, I'm very happy with the result. Third rally this year, second podium, I'm happy.
It's amazing, I think I have the best team in the world. It's great, we worked very hard to make this result, it's great day for me and for all people who believed me. This year we had many many problems, that's why we are deserved, it's ubeliavable. Thanks to my family, to my sponsors, they are all great.
Good, super, I like the rally, I like ERC, I like Latvia!
The car is working, only now we have small problem with throttle. I Hope we can continue with our project in the next season. First loop on Saturday was one of the best driving I have ever done.
accident - hit a tree
SS12
The dust inside the car is not very tasty. I'm happy with the stage, clean drive, second time we did it OK.
I'm surprised with Marijan's time. The gap is big now, I'm quite disappointed. We'll try.
The first one was really bad, this one I took carefully. I think I won't be an autocross driver.
I had to win here, I push as I can. One more to go.
I like this rally, earlier I wasn't so focused on the road. Now I'm not happy with my driving, it could be better.
Everything is fine, we are happy with the result, we are in Top 3 at ERC2.
This track at the end is very slippery, we hit a wall and damaged the rear bumper. But it's OK.
We are playing safe game now, there is no point to risk, still we are trying to go fast.
This Mickey Mouse stuff at the end is really not for me, we did it carefully. We are saving tyres for the last stage.
It was OK, as long as you keep the line the grip is OK, but when you go only few centimeters from the line, thy tyres don't work. I'm learning, but I enjoy the drive.
The dust inside the car is not very tasty. I'm happy with the stage, clean drive, second time we did it OK.
It's good, in one corner there was a big water splash.
SS11
Now in second loop the road is clean and good grip. Of course there are ruts and stones but it's no problem for the Fabia.
Siim is fast driver, respect to him. The road is destroyed here with lot of stones, you need to drave carefully. I hit one big rock with the rear wheel thinking we got a puncture.
There were some very big stones which we were unable to avoid, but everything is allright. Two more stages to go.
We hit a bank inside a corner and had a spin. There was a lot of dust, we didn't see anything. We lost quite a lot of time there.
I'm really happy we are running again, the team did great job. Car is working perfectly, we are still in the race.
We control everything, the stage was little bit destroyed, we didn't expect that. It's quite rough, but no problem.
SS10
out of the road
On the second stage the rear door opened, we didn't know what happened. In this stage we went off the road, but we managed to get back on the road.
We had some mistakes with braking, we went over the junction and had to reverse.
I went off in one right hand corner. We went to the field and had to reverse. Lucky we didn't stuck there, the field was muddy. Actually nice stage.
Thanks for my team for the yesterday repair. We now go faster and faster, now I feel better. I hope in the second loop it will be much better.
Fine, we had four new tyres in the morning and will have four new for the second loop so wee will see. We are second fastest now. No major issues, we don't want to mess it up.
We rolled in fast right hander maybe four kilometers before the finish. But it went back to wheels and we continued, the car works.
It was a good stage, we switched the tyres between the front and rear and it worked well.
I went straight on one junction and had to reverse.
In the morning we had some problem, we restarted the car and now it's OK.
For me eveyrthing OK. I liked this stage, more than the previous one. We are still on the game, we want to finish.
We damaged the car in the first stage. But it's more fun, more emotions! The car is going sideways all the time.
We are doing good job and good pace, at the same time I try to go smoothly and drive relaxed. It's good today, we are having fun, the tyres are working well.
Real fight is the best fight, Kajto has some troubles. This wasn't the best stage for me, the beginning was good, but then I messed up the driving.
It's OK, but we couldn't restart the engine. We don't know why it stopped.
In previous stage we had a first big moment in the rally and we rolled. I'm sorry for the team.
The stage is very very slippery. We had a problem with engine after previous stage.
We have struggled, but it was OK.
SS9
missed a junction
Really good stage, I pushed 110%. The battle is quite crazy, everybody is pushing. It will be a hard day.
It's much better and faster with our starting position. The steering wheel position is not correct, but it's OK.
We broke driveshaft yesterday. We wanted to fight back to Chuchala, but in the first stage we hit a bank and damaged steering so the car is not going properly.
What a jump in this one, just at the end of the stage, I didn't expect it. Luckily I didn't break any driveshaft or anything like that.
The stage wasn't really good, we had a lot of dust on the road from Larsen.
rolled - "In left hand corner over the crest I was too fast and we rolled. I don't know if we are able to continue."
Again fastest time for the moment! Horrible, believe me. It was much faster, there are few lines from safety cars but sometimes it completely disappear.
We had a really huge moment and almost rolled. I lost my concentration and then I saw Larsen, I'm happy to be here.
I'm doing my job, we have a lot of fun. I try to do no mistakes, at the moment it's OK.
Yesterday it was better, I don't like this stage.
First stage wasn't very good, this one was better. The car is OK.
All is OK, the car is working well.
I think we are controlling our position. On the rallycross track we jumped little bit more, the landing was heavy on the nose.
I like gravel, it's very fast stage. We can shift fifth gear and just go. There was a big jump, I liked it. The next stage is more narrow and technical.
rolled
SS8
The grip is poor, I have problem even on braking to stay on the road. I hope the second loop will be enjoyable. This is not lucky rally for us, yesterday we were driving in dust of our Italian friend, but it's like it is.
No problem, just simply first stage of the morning.
The grip is really low in places, it's changing all the time. It's advantage for the guys behind, but we are still in fight with them so it's OK.
It's incredibly slippery, we were very cautious. Really no grip. I think I have to get used to these conditions.
Good start, good morning. Nice stage, we want to just drive and have a fun. This was a good stage for fun.
Not a big push because we are in reversed order and it's more slippery than yesterday.
First stage is very bad because I didn't catch my rhytm. I think the time is not good, I'm not happy. I hope we can push better in other stages.
SS7
It started pretty well but in last corner we hit barrier from tyres.
It's like new rally starts tomorrow.
My second run was much better than first one, but we have to wait. Tarmac is better for me than gravel.
Now it was much better. For tomorrow I hope we will keep podium position for the championship.
Tomorrow we have to push more harder. I don't know we lost so much time today.
I think it is driveshaft, we don't lose too much in this stage.
Amazing, we set good times with this heavy car.
On this stage I was trying to push very hard. Lot of fun. We want to drive fast and made some fun for spectators. We'll see what we can do tomorrow.
Really nice feeling, but we can't relax. Tomorrow we have to push again.
I'm happy. I don't know time of Vorobjovs, I made few mistakes, but generally I'm happy with the day.
We still lost some time, but it was definitely better. I'm not tarmac expert. But it's show for the crowds.
For me it was good day, tomorrow would be better. I like this rally.
I enjoyed cleaning a lot, helped the boys behind.
SS6
It was slippery as hell. I was not comfortable in this Micke-mouse stage. I like gravel.
Very important stage for rally. Good to be here. We were sliding, trying to keep good line and speed.
I didn't enjoy. Not a good stage for this car, but good for spectators.
It was slippery as hell. I was not comfortable in this Micke-mouse stage. I like gravel.
Many of tight corners so I was very slow. But good for spectators, nice show.
It was quite okay. I don't like this kind of stages, but it was fun.
Something is wrong, we broke driveshaft or diff. But we will fix the car before tomorrow.
We don't like the city stages, but result is always good.
Very important stage for rally. Good to be here. We were sliding, trying to keep good line and speed.
In the first corner I lost time, problem with handbrake.
It was okay, just little surprised as not closed door properly.
Everything is okay, but I missed too much. Steering wheel locked and I went straight.
Tricky stage. We hit something.
I like this stage. It was good, little bit slippery with gravel tyres on tarmac. Sometimes bit sideways.
Very funny stage. Very twisty, nice for spectators. Good idea to organize stage like that.
It was slippery, sliding like hell. I think tyres were hot. Not best day in my life, car is not competitive, need more power.
SS5
We were 30 seconds faster this time, I don't know how it happened, the road was so rough.
Good, but GPS unit broke my intercom.
It was OK, but we have some problem with brakes, soft brake pedal.
Too much ruts, I lost the braking point after fast straight to the junction.
Deep ruts, it was hard to find the grip. But I'm happy with the drive.
There were quite big ruts, I didn't like that. But the time is OK, I'm happy with the driving.
Not a good stage for us, we made so many mistakes. We try to improve, we missed too many braking points. In few mistakes there are deep ruts, we are happy to stay n the road.
Everything is fine, we look forward to the city stage.
Now I pushed, I like to push and drive on limit. The rhytm is getting better stage by stage.
Everything good, if we look at the results it could be better, but it's so long time since we were in the rally car so I think I will keep this speed also tomorrow.
It's OK, not very nice stage, the road is bumpy and destroyed, but the drive was good.
The road is damaged in places, we had to take it carefully. With this car you can't push too hard, you can easily damage the differential or anything. Nothing special, it's always like this here.
The car is now OK, I'm trying to keep the good line and to have fun. That's it.
There are big ruts on the road, we did some damages to the bumper. It's OK.
Good, good. I changed the setup and the car is easier to control, on the previous stage it was too tough.
I had to slow down at Raul, we lost maybe three seconds there. The road is getting very rough in there, with the heavy Group N car it's easy to break something.
Good, but the tyres are finished.
This stage wasn't very good, we are struggling with turning the car into the ruts.
It was nice, I like the stage, I had a lot of fun in there. I want to push more tomorrow. Now we have two stages in city, it's easy to hit something there, we have to be careful.
This stage was not so good, there started to appear some ruts, the surface is getting rough. But we had a good drive.
It was good. When it's clean, it's pretty fun. The first time there was a lot of sliding, maybe it was nice for spectators, but not good for the time.
This stage was OK, better than the previous one.
SS4
It's so much fun, so cool, many spectators around.
Actually I enjoyed this stage more, I had more feeling of the car.
There was a big bump in the middle of the stage and we landed heavy on the nose, but the car is OK.
The first loop we had hard tyres, now we changed the compound and I see we lost a lot of time before.
Quite good stage. Little problem with the dust, but I'm quite happy with the time.
I'm bit surprised the grip is now so good. I was pushing hard, fighting for the win.
Now everything was good, I think we made a good tyre choice. Now the time is quite OK, we are happy if we continue like this.
We had a huge moment in the middle of the stage. On one fast corner we were wide and hit a bank. We lost maybe three seconds there. We were pushing hard, we had a good rhytm.
Now I feel like rally driver, it's proper rallying now. Let's see what other guys can do.
Everything good, excellent. Beautiful stages, we love this weekend, we enjoy every stage, every corner, every kilometer.
Everything was good, really nice stage. We caught Tibor Erdi and ran in some dust in the end of the stage.
Nice stage, we did it without any mistakes. Really enjoyable. I was hoping to be on the podium, but Ralfs's Fabia was faster here.
We are trying, but it's amazing, we have another problem. Now with powersteering, we had to stop in the stage and reset the car.
We drive on maximum speed, we were running on fifth gear long time here. The maximum speed of our car is 190 km
We made two mistakes, the car was too low on some bumps, it was difficult on braking. I'm not really confident with my driving, but the pace was right.
On the fastest parts I didn't back off now. There was perfect grip, but on the new section the grip was really poor and I lost my confidence there.
The grip is much better. I was little bit careful, I did one stupid mistake in a junction. We have short gearbox, I think in some places it should be an advantage.
Too much braking sometimes. Fast and difficult stage.
New section was very slippery. I didn't get used to the new rhytm, sometimes I was braking too heavy.
No problem, it's such a different with the cleaned road. The grip is so high it's like circuit racing. We have to change the driving style.
SS3
accident - hit a tree
First time on gravel, so I have to learn. We didn't have test before the rally, so it's difficult. But I enjoy it.
Car is OK, this stage was very long and very fast. Beautiful stage.
Really good, absolutely brilliant. I lost some time in the end but I'm happy.
We are running in dust from the previous cars, two minutes would be better.
Absolutely flatout all stage. In the half something broke in the rear. I like this rally.
I think we have a problem with rear left wheel. The car wasn't driving well, we have to look at it. The car was sliding too much in right corners.
I made a mistake in one corner, we hit a bank and broke something. I'm not happy.
Great, we did every corner with smile on our faces, we enjoy it. Times are good for us.
We couldn't fix the car, it's quite scary. I hope we can fix it in the service.
I did a mistake on braking and missed a junction. We couldn't reverse because it was impossible to shift the gear, so we lost maybe 15 - 20 seconds.
We have a problem with power and water temperature.
I think in this stage Lukas will be faster, we ran few kilometers on fifth gear in the limiter.
Not bad, few mistakes, but luckily no punctures, only few mistakes becaues I don't know the stages. But incredible stage, clean run, lot of fun.
We switched the rear tyres with the front ones, but the car is heavy for them. In some places it was so fast that I had to brake down, I had no confidence sometimes.
Not the best time, in all three stages many small mistakes. We are loosing time.
I'm really happy with the first three stages. Very good pacenotes, everything is going on the plan.
We have problems with the car. The time is not good, now we go to service and hopefully guys can repair the car.
We were driving in dust, so I drove carefully. We lost some brake points, but we are going better and better and I think the second loop will be much better.
I hope we can repair the car in the service.
Very very long stage, not so bad for us. I hope in next loop we can show our best.
SS2
I didn't find a good rhytm at the beginning of the stage.
Not good, I couldn't get my rhytm and when I found it, I lost it again. Not a good drive at the moment.
We lost exhaust on the start. But everything was fine, the stage was good.
The grass in the bumper is normal here, sometimes you go deep inside the corner. I'm still struggling with braking with this heavy car.
I'm not sure, maybe we don't need such speed! Very interesting stage, but sometimes it's lottery with rocks on the road. Exciting, we are having a lot of fun.
Really fast stage on wide roads. Lukyanuk and Plangi can be really quick here.
It was OK, quite difficult stage because in fast sections there is hard surface and good grip nad then you come to forest with soft road.
I did two mistakes, I was too wide in corners, and was slow in few places. But I'm very very happy.
I think the driving was very good. The starting position could be better, in one corner we slid too much on lose gravel. But I'm happy with my driving.
On the first stage we lost powersteering, now we have no brakes.
Not so good, I lost some time with pacenotes in the forest. But we are going step by step, it's OK.
We have a problem with the gearbox. I don't have 3rd and 4th gear.
It was very slippery with no grip, we are cleaning road for other cars.
SS1
It was good. I think we could gain some more time, but I wanted to save tyres for next stages.
Really good stage, but I did few mistakes. I will try to improve in next stages. I missed some corners, we had big moment in fast tarmac section, we are happy to be here.
In first square right corner after tarmac section we did a mistake, we lost few seconds there.
There was after tarmac section fast gravel corner with big stones, I couldn't brake there and had to go straight. It was a pitty.
Everything OK, maybe we could go faster, but it's first stage after long brake, so it's good enough.
I made one mistake on braking, we missed the hairpin and went straight, so we lost some seconds. It's not easy to go that fast with this car, but you can't wait, you have to run straight ahead.
I was careful, I'm happy with my driving. We want to keep our speed, we want to be quick and then we want to finish, that's more important than winning this rally.
Nice stage, fast one, but difficult. Now we need to wait for Kajto and Lucas for their times. This weekend we want only victory.
Not bad, I was quite cautious first time here. I wanted to finish the first stage without problem which I didn't manage in previous ERC in Rzeszow.
It's extremely slippery, we are still cleaning and the car is going by. The road will be OK maybe around 30th car.
I didn't shift the first gear on the start so we were standing there with engine in limiter. The car is OK, crazy stage.
We hit one of the poles when cutting the corner. But no damage to the car so no drama. Clean stage, difficult one.
It's slippery, but with every car it's better and better. In the morning we are little bit sleepy.
problems with powersteering
Not happy for sure, for the moment I completely don't understand the grip. Sometimes there is no grip at all, sometimes it's very good, so I'm driving carefully.
No problem, the biggest problem is my driving on gravel.
No problem, I'm just struggling as we have no power boost with less grip. We are cleaning road for other crews.