“Mūsa Rallycross Weekend” Festival Concludes with Fierce Battles and Beautiful Victories

For the second season in a row, the Polish Rallycross Championships visited the “Mūsa Raceland” track near Bauska, complementing the usual participants of the Latvian-Lithuanian Rallycross Championship with four classes and more than 30 drivers. It should be noted that new or repeated season driver turnout records were set in several classes of our local championship, showing the attractiveness of both the championship and the track.

For several classes, battles started already on Saturday, when they completed not only practice runs but also the first two qualifying rounds. Although rain came down right at the start of both qualifications, the track dried out quite quickly due to the warm weather conditions. Nature threw a bigger challenge at the drivers on the second day, when, after heavy rain showers the previous evening and night, the track was wet and slippery in the first half of Sunday. However, rays of sunshine and heat saved the day again, even allowing the water truck to hit the track in the second half of the day.

The Polish Championship finals stood out with several collisions, forcing two of them to be restarted. In the combined SuperNational race, Konrad Gryz surprisingly triumphed, simultaneously winning the SN-1600 class. First place in the SN-2000 classification went to Michal Malkowski, while Lukasz Zoll triumphed in the SN+2000 class. In the SC Cup class, where drivers compete in small Fiat Seicento cars, Jakub Kabat took a convincing victory in the final race among eight drivers, leaving Maciej Suzczynski and Maks Guranowski behind.

Meanwhile, as many as 12 drivers had made the trip to “Mūsa Raceland” in the Polish RWD Cup classification. Considering that a false start was committed on the first attempt, the race required a rerun. Despite the choppy start and getting into intense battles with Kacper Sokulski, qualification leader Leon Jurek ultimately won the final. Sokulski was second this time, while Pola Dobrowolska could celebrate the third step of the podium after a penalty was issued to a competitor.

The Latvian-Lithuanian Rallycross Championship standings featured both overall leaders' victories as well as a couple of surprises and emotional podiums. In the YARIS 1000 class, season leader Jēkabs Martinovs demonstrated convincing speed, taking first place in both qualification and the final, accordingly increasing his lead over his closest pursuers. Magnuss Baumanis was second in the round, thereby strengthening his second position in the overall standings, while third place and consequently the first podium of the season went to Kārlis Matuzonis.

Meanwhile, in the LADA RX class, in a very exciting and spectator-friendly final battle, Rolands Bružāns defeated Niks Mežiņš for the first time this season. Both fought side by side several times in the final, but with the right strategy and great speed, Bružāns managed to stay in the lead. Eduards Cipruss could celebrate his first podium, placing third in both qualification and the final. It should also be noted that the LADA RX class is experiencing a renaissance of sorts, as ten LADA RX participants started the weekend, which is the largest number of drivers in recent years.

In the Cross Car Mini class, where the youngest rallycross participants compete, overall leader Gustavs Korņējevs was unlucky in the final this time – a crash into a tyre barrier and retirement in the very first corner of the first lap. This opened the door for Lithuanian Kasparas Kazemekas, who took a convincing victory, while Marta Skustā was second and Marians Bērzkalns third. In another youth classification – Cross Car Junior – Everts Grava had a perfect race, winning all three qualifications as well as the final. Alongside him on the podium after a dramatic exchange of positions in the final lap were Ritvars Elksnis and Klāvs Žvagins.

In the Cross Car class, Jānis Baumanis entered the start line for the first time this season, managing to break into the lead with a phenomenal start and hold it to the finish with convincing speed. Roberts Purmalis strengthened his overall leadership position with second place in the final, while third place on the podium went to Lithuanian Kernius Sulinskas. Meanwhile, in the Polish Championship classification, victory went to Filip Dzitko, leaving Jaroslaw Nowakowski and Kamil Pilch behind.

In the SUPER 1600 class, Valdas Mikuzis took a convincing victory, while Mantas Laskovas delivered a major surprise with second place in his first start of the season, beating the fast Estonian Andreas Aulik in a close battle. As usual, the SUPER 2000 classification did not disappoint, and in the “Mūsa Raceland” round we experienced a wild final with several collisions. However, Lenards Lepsis successfully managed to avoid them all, taking victory for the third round in a row. Second place and the second podium of the season went to Lithuanian Edvinas Miknius, while Kristaps Kasparovičs was happy with third place and his third podium of the season.

The BMW RX 3000 class did not disappoint either, with intense battles and dramatic twists over both days. Jānis Olle and his team certainly experienced a bright palette of emotions, as Saturday started with a crash in testing and a broken wheel in practice. However, after two rides on the recovery truck, victories in the first and third qualifications followed for Olle, as well as a great start and triumph in the final race.

Naturally, the final was not without collisions in the first lap battles, but young Ralfs Jansons managed to successfully avoid them, securing his first podium with second place, while third place went to Kaspars Fricsons, whose performance also deserves special mention – first start this season, making the final through the last chance qualifier, and a podium starting from the third row.

At the end of the day, drivers of the SUPERCAR class took to the start. Although there were fewer participants than originally planned, the fast and loud cars still delighted the spectators, as did the fact that Latvian driver Mārcis Martinovs took the victory. He managed to beat Poles Colin Ludwiczak and Karol Czerwinski. It should be noted that nearly a hundred races were held over the two days in total, so the work of the track staff, marshals, and all those involved who made it possible for such an impressive and large-scale rallycross festival as “Mūsa Rallycross Weekend” to happen must definitely be commended. The Latvian-Lithuanian Rallycross Championship season will continue with the fifth round already on August 8-9 at the Vilkyčiai track in Lithuania.