Autocross in Smiltene to take place on Sunday, August 23 only

The fifth round of the Latvian autocross championship and cup will take place on Sunday, August 23, at the "Teperis" sports and recreation complex track in Smiltene. The event was originally planned to run over two days, August 22 and 23, but organizers announced that Saturday's races have been cancelled because meteorologists forecast heavy, prolonged rain and thunderstorms in many parts of Latvia that day.

Competitors from Estonia will also take part, as the round simultaneously counts as the fourth stage of the Estonian autocross cup in the B6000 class (popularly known as "crocodiles"), as well as the D12 and D13 classes.

Record number of participants and classes

The event is organized by the technical sports club "Smiltene," which has prepared the track by reinforcing the surface and installing metal barriers. Club board chairman Vairis Tralla noted that this year's round in Smiltene stands out both for a record number of participants and for the variety of classes — 13 in total. These include the 1600, 2000 Super, Open, Xtreme, Junior Xtreme, Buggy 1600, mini buggy 160cc and 200cc, Cross Car MT09 and RWD 3000 classes, along with the historic GAZ truck classes B6000, D12 and D13. The Cross Car MT09 class will feature in the Smiltene round for the first time.

Local drivers competing for points

In the Open class, current championship leader Uldis Megnis of Smiltene, who holds a six-point lead, will compete with a new car. Other representatives of the Smiltene and Valka municipalities include Elvijs Haks and Jānis Ozols in the RWD 3000 class, Ingus Staško in the D12 class, Viesturs Plētiens in the Super 2000 class, and Magdalēna Vecgaile and Markuss Makarovs in the mini buggy class. Organizers noted that additional entries from these municipalities are still possible.