Latvia starts its way to join FIA World Rally Championship
On December 21, 2021, a decision was made during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to support the hosting of a FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) round in Latvia, marking a historic milestone for our country. This decision initiates a comprehensive preparation process to host a full-fledged WRC round in 2024. RA Events, the organizer of Rally Liepāja, in collaboration with WRC Promoter, plan to retain Rally Liepāja in 2022 and 2023 calendar of FIA European Rally Championship (FIA ERC).
"It's hard to put into words the feelings that comes with learning that we have taken such a significant and momentous step towards hosting a WRC round in Latvia," stated Raimonds Strokšs, the director of RA Events.
“The decision made by the Cabinet of Ministers marks a historic moment in Latvian motorsport, allowing for a two-year preparation process to host a WRC stage in 2024. This event sits at the highest level in motorsport hierarchy, and candidate countries compete for the opportunity to be included in the WRC calendar. The fact that the challenging work carried out in collaboration with the Latvian government, cities, and municipalities of Kurzeme, as well as WRC Promoter, has resulted in such a positive outcome is a huge achievement and source of satisfaction,” Raimonds Strokšs says.
Starting from the 2022 season, WRC Promoter, the organizer of the FIA World Rally Championship, will also take over the organization of the FIA European Rally Championship. Therefore, within the framework of planned long-term cooperation, Rally Liepāja is expected to retain its status as an FIA ERC stage in 2022 and 2023, while in 2024, Latvia would host an WRC event.
"Since 2009, when we began organizing a stage of the Latvian Rally Championship in Rally Talsi, our goal has always been to host the highest level of rally competition in Latvia. Over the years, we have organized the FIA ERC round Rally Liepāja nine times, earning high praise from supervisory institutions, organizing bodies, teams, and media. The experience gained, professional knowledge, and the desire to bring the highest level of sporting competition to Latvia are no longer just a dream, but a reality. This is a source of great reward for the selfless work put into organizing motorsport events throughout these years. The course we have taken and the sense of responsibility provide additional motivation, knowing the economic and publicity benefits that hosting a stage of the FIA World Rally Championship will bring to Latvia. It is important that we can start working today and take the next steps to finalize the agreement with WRC Promoter and complete all the necessary preparations to ensure the successful organization of the WRC event in 2024. Many thanks to the Latvian government for their support in hosting such a large-scale competition in Latvia. It is particularly commendable that a long-term decision has been made to host the event, thus providing a two-year preparation period before Latvia welcomes a WRC round. We are proud to continue our work to further promote Latvia on the world stage!" concludes RA Events director Raimonds Strokšs.
With the collaboration in place, Rally Liepāja, which is running from Talsi to Liepāja, will maintain its status as an FIA European Rally Championship stage for the next two years, with the 2021 event taking place on July 2 and 3.