The attention of all motorsport fans turns this weekend to the Latvian round of the FIA European Rally Championship (16-18 September). In Liepaja, almost 500 kilometres from Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran commence their fight for second victory this season and, first and foremost, for points necessary to defend their European Rally Championship title. Last year the Latvian round of the series was held in winter. In February 2015 Kajetanowicz scored 10 top-three times on eleven special stages covered with snow and ice. Together with spectacular victory in season opener, Jännerrallye, these results helped Kajetan to clinch the FIA ERC Ice Master title. This season Rally Liepaja also was supposed to take place in winter. However, these plans had to be scuppered due to warm temperatures which forced the organisers to postpone the event until September. This means that round 9 of the 2016 FIA ERC takes place on gravel roads around Liepaja – third-largest city in Latvia – and the crews will use tyres suited to the loose surface rather than narrow ones with long studs.

The entry list of the penultimate round of the 2016 FIA ERC features 43 crews, with all championship frontrunners. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran occupy the top spot, as they have been leading the standings for over five months. Among the main rivals of the reigning European Rally Champions there are second-placed Alexey Lukyanuk, who swapped his Ford Fiesta R5 for a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, and home favourite Ralfs Sirmacis in a Skoda Fabia R5. Leading competitors from the Baltic countries also want to take the opportunity to participate in their home event. They include the 2014 Latvian Rally Champion and current second-placed driver Janis Vorobjovs (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), reigning Latvian Rally Champion and last year’s runner-up in this rally Siim Plangi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) or seven-time Lithuanian Rally Champion Vytautas Svedas (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX). Apart from the LOTOS Rally Team crew, there are another six crews from Poland entered for round 9 of the 2016 FIA ERC.

Not only the surface is new in this year’s edition of Rally Liepaja. All European and Latvian frontrunners face eight different special stages and four of them are completely new, one is exactly the same as two years ago and three other are modified in comparison with past editions. In total, no less than 45% of the competitive distance is brand new and unused in earlier years. The competition in Latvia starts with the Qualifying Stage on Friday, 16 September, at 16:00. The opening stage gets underway on Saturday at 8:25. The final test commences on Sunday, 18 September, at 13:30, so the unofficial results of the fight on 203 competitive kilometres should be known at around 14:30 (all times are CET).

Thanks to their consistency, Kajetan and Jarek scored 166 points in their seven outings this season. Moreover, the Polish duo added to their tally in every round in which they took part. Alexey Lukyanuk entered the same number of rallies and scored 76 points less than the leaders. Only the Russian driver still maintains a chance to win the FIA European Rally Championship, although Kajto can defend his title in Latvia irrespective of the result scored by his Russian opponent. In the Teams standings the rivals cannot overhaul LOTOS Rally Team: the Polish squad clinched their second consecutive title during the previous round of the championship – Barum Czech Rally Zlin.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – There is responsibility behind every decision in motorsport, behind every steering input or suspension click. As I see it, you show this responsibility by respecting work of the whole LOTOS Rally Team, support of our partners and fans who travel a long way to watch three days of rally show. I feel the burden of this responsibility on my shoulders, irrespective of the task awaiting us – whether it is a season opener or championship decider. I approach every rally with the same humility. It helps me to give my best in order to reach the main goals. Rally Liepaja is no exception here, although from mental point of view it carries a huge load of emotions.