With excellent weather and exciting battles, the “WashCar Riga Summer Race” took place this weekend at the Biķernieki circuit. In the opening round of the Baltic Touring Car Championship season, the winners in the most popular classes were Jānis Horeliks (BMW 325 CUP), Artjoms Kočlamazašvili (BMW TURBO CUP) and Mareks Matvejevs (V1600), while in an impressive field of 30 teams, a dramatic victory in the 2-hour endurance race was claimed by “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing LV” with a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO, driven by Artūrs Batraks and Sandis Zvidriņš.
The race weekend already began on Thursday with tests, followed by practice sessions and qualifying on Friday. On Saturday, sprint races of the Baltic circuit racing championship took place throughout the day at Biķernieki, followed in the evening by the combined “Hankook Endurance Challenge” and “Nankang Endurance Academy” 2-hour endurance race.
As usual, the largest number of participants was in the BMW 325 CUP class, where 16 drivers lined up this time. In qualifying, last season’s bronze medalist Matīss Maļinovskis was the fastest, ahead of the Latvian legend Jānis Horeliks and multiple Polish champion Karol Wyka. In the first race, Maļinovskis secured a convincing victory, however in the fourth lap of the second race, while leading, his car suffered a technical issue and he had to retire. Accordingly, Horeliks took victory in both the second race and overall for the round, with Wyka finishing second and Dmitrijs Gorņevs taking third place.
Impressive battles were also demonstrated in the new BMW TURBO CUP class, which at the start of its second season gathered ten participants. One of the drivers, however, saw his race end already during testing due to an accident, but the level of competition has increased significantly and anyone from the top five could have won. Throughout both races, great battles and beautiful overtaking maneuvers were seen on track, delighting the large number of spectators. In the first race, Lithuanian driver Aurimas Mištautas took victory, ahead of two Latvians – 16-year-old Rolands Alfredsons and last year’s champion Artjoms Kočlamazašvili.
In the second race, everything turned upside down, as Mištautas and Alfredsons dropped to fourth and fifth place after making mistakes. In a close fight, Kočlamazašvili took victory, managing to hold off Lithuanians Markas Šilkunas and Mantas Jasiulevičius. In the overall standings of the round, Kočlamazašvili took the win, Mištautas finished second, and Šilkunas third. Considering that all of the above demonstrated similar pace and that several more fast drivers are expected to join the new class, this season in BMW TURBO CUP promises to be very exciting.
A significant increase in drivers was also seen in the V1600 class, where 12 pilots took the start. It should be noted that V1600 is the most cost-friendly class in the Baltic circuit racing championship. Last year’s champion Mareks Matvejevs took a convincing victory in both races, ahead of vice-champion Nauris Agafonovs and class debutant Andris Misiņš. The ABC Race class also started together with them, where Roberts Ozoliņš was the fastest this time.
The races of the most powerful GT classes turned out to be eventful, as in the first race Artūrs Batraks (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO) suffered a heavy crash before the Bridge corner, while in the second race Egidijus Gelūnas (Lamborghini Huracan ST EVO 2) crashed in the Cinema studio corner. Considering that both of the fastest cars of the weekend were also scheduled to compete in the 2-hour endurance race, these were dramatic moments for both teams. However, the mechanics did an impressive job and managed to repair both Lamborghini cars in a short time so they could participate in the prestigious “Hankook Endurance Challenge” and “Nankang Endurance Academy” race.
This time, an impressive number of participants took the start – 30 teams from Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia and Lithuania. The lineup of cars was very colorful – two Lamborghinis, three Porsche Caymans, as well as many cars from the BTC, BMW 325 CUP and BMW TURBO CUP sprint classes. The battle for overall victory unfolded between the previously mentioned Lamborghinis – the Lithuanian “Reimpex by Capkauskas Autocentras” and the Latvian “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing LV”.
In qualifying, the Lithuanians were slightly faster, and with the experienced Ramūnas Čapkauskas at the wheel, they managed to build a several-second advantage at the beginning of the race. However, as the race progressed, the balance of power evened out, and while navigating through slower cars to lap them, Artūrs Batraks managed to close the gap. Mid-race, driver changes followed – Egidijus Gelūnas took over the Lithuanian Lamborghini, while Sandis Zvidriņš got behind the wheel for the Latvian team.
Gelūnas and Zvidriņš fought wheel-to-wheel for many laps, but towards the end of the race the Lithuanian crew managed to build a noticeable advantage. However, then the unbelievable happened – on the final lap Gelunās’ car became very slow and almost stopped, allowing Zvidriņš to pass and claim a dramatic victory for “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing LV” in the 2-hour endurance race. As it was later revealed, the Lithuanian team’s Lamborghini suffered from fuel issues, which cost them the win and left them finishing in second place. Third overall was another Lithuanian crew – “PiRent by Baltic Karting Academy” with a Porsche Cayman, driven by Vilius Reskevičius and Vidas Samuolis.
Close battles in the 2-hour race were seen in almost all classes, making this certainly one of the most exciting endurance races in the Baltics in recent years. Victory in the largest BMW 325 CUP class was taken by “Ibiza” with Matīss Maļinovskis and Karol Wyka at the wheel, BMW TURBO CUP was won by “Contribee Racing” with driver Markas Šilkunas, while in BTC3 the Estonian “RS Racing Team” with Raigo Sarapuu and Peeter Kaera took victory.
A successful debut in the Baltic circuit racing championship was also experienced by the new Mitjet Baltics series, where eight participants competed in the first round. Victory was taken by Vilius Reskevičius, ahead of Povilas Jankavičius and Martynas Tankevičius. Additionally, within the “WashCar Riga Summer Race”, the Estonian Historic Formula Championship held its first round of the season. There, Raitis Mūrnieks delivered an excellent performance, winning the MONDIAL class, Indulis Rukuts was first in the OPEN classification, while Valērijs Urbāns triumphed in the EASTER class.
The “WashCar Riga Summer Race” was organized by “Baltic Racing Series” in cooperation with the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian automobile federations, and the event is supported by “WashCar”, “Domina Shopping”, “Elvi”, “Petronas”, “Hankook” and “Nankang”. The official race car – CUPRA from “Autobrava Motors”. More information is available at https://balticracingseries.eu/, while updates can be followed on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/balticracingseries.