Home Breaking Toyota Gazoo Racing Gears Up for Rally Latvia Debut in WRC
Toyota Gazoo Racing Gears Up for Rally Latvia Debut in WRC
Toyota Gazoo Racing Gears Up for Rally Latvia Debut in WRC

For the first time, Latvia will host a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), taking over the spot previously held by neighbouring Estonia. The event will be based on Rally Liepāja, a renowned round of the FIA European Rally Championship, and will feature fast gravel roads similar to those found in Estonia. However, Latvia promises unique challenges for the drivers, most of whom have not competed there before.

One driver arriving with previous experience in Latvia is reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä. Rovanperä began his rally career in the country as a teenager, winning the national championship title in 2016 and 2017. Fresh off a remarkable victory at Rally Poland following a late call-up, Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen will mark their 50th start with TGR-WRT since joining the top level with the team in 2020.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Gears Up for Rally Latvia Debut in WRC

Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais are set to make a welcome return to action in Latvia after missing Rally Poland due to an accident during the reconnaissance. It will be the first time Ogier competes in Latvia, as it will be for Elfyn Evans. Their respective co-drivers, however, have previous experience in Rally Liepāja – Scott Martin tasted victory alongside the late Craig Breen in 2015 when it ran as a winter rally on snow and ice. Evans and Martin will aim to build on a strong second-place finish in Poland, which brought them within 15 points of the championship lead.

As Evans, Rovanperä, and Ogier push to close the 10-point gap in the manufacturers’ championship, Takamoto Katsuta will also target a strong result upon his return to Latvia for the first time since 2015, when he contested just his third rally in Europe as part of the TGR WRC Challenge Program.

In the WRC2 category, there are five GR Yaris Rally2 cars entered in Latvia. Sami Pajari, ahead of his Rally1 debut with TGR-WRT at next month’s Rally Finland, has a chance to claim the championship lead after back-to-back class wins in Sardinia and Poland in his Printsport-run car. He is joined by fellow Finn Mikko Heikkilä (TGS), Estonia’s Gregor Jeets (RedGrey), and two drivers making their first start in a GR Yaris Rally2: Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al-Rashed (Printsport) and Canadian Brandon Semenuk (Sports Racing Technologies), a double American national champion.

The rally will begin in the capital city of Riga on Thursday evening, with an opening super special stage at the Biķernieki circuit complex. The longest route will be on Friday, featuring 120.92 competitive kilometres north-west of Riga with no mid-day service, only tyre-fitting zones before the morning and afternoon loops. Saturday’s stages, closer to Liepāja, will include mid-day service, while Sunday’s action will round out the event with a pair of stages run twice.

Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal) “Latvia is new to the WRC but we can expect similar demands to Rally Poland, with fast and flowing stages and a sandy surface, but the roads are maybe even wider and faster. The biggest challenge is that many of the stages will be driven only once, which is quite rare these days. That means there will be a lot of work for the crews with a lot of new pacenotes to be written, and when it’s a new event with new roads it’s always a great challenge. We hope to pick up where we left off in Poland, where the performance was great, Kalle’s victory was fantastic and Elfyn was driving consistently fast. Hopefully Taka can find an improved feeling in Latvia, and it will be great to also have Seb back with us there. The championship is so tight this year, it’s difficult to make any differences, so it’s important to have our full-strength line-up for this new challenge and keep up the fight.”

Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen “I’m really looking forward to go back to Latvia. I have so many good memories from my early days there and I hope to see many friends and familiar faces next week. It will be a fast rally: a bit of a mix between Poland and Estonia in terms of character. I’m sure it will be really spectacular to watch and a big fight on the stages. It’s been seven years since I last drove in Latvia, so I don’t think that experience will count for much and I will be preparing for it like any new rally. Poland went well even in the strange circumstances we had and I hope we can carry on the good feeling, and that with better preparation we can do a good job.”

Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin “I’m looking forward to seeing what Rally Latvia is all about. On paper it could be quite similar in character to Rally Poland as another fast gravel event, but I’m sure that it will have its own specific challenges and we have to discover those and see the stages for ourselves when we get there. We had a pretty good feeling with the car in Poland and we hope to be able to carry that forward, and I believe we can still build upon what we learned that weekend. Hopefully we can continue our good momentum in the championship, enjoy the event and come away with some good points at the finish.”

Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais “It was quite unfortunate what happened during our preparations in Poland. Now after some rest, and some good help from my medical team, I could recover pretty quickly and I’m looking forward to being back in a rally car in Latvia. The challenge of a new rally is generally something I like and that’s one of the reasons we added this event to our programme. The target for us will be to find the feeling for the very high-speed roads quickly after missing Poland, but I’m always excited for a new challenge and let’s see what we can do.”

Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston “It’s going to be nice to go back to Latvia. My biggest memory from my last rally there is of probably the biggest crash of my career. It was one of my first-ever rallies in Europe, so it was a long time ago and it will be a completely different story now. It’s going to be a totally new rally for most of the drivers, including myself, and I want to set a high target for the weekend. It will be a similarly fast rally to Poland and I want to take the positives from there onto Latvia. We need to prepare as well as we can and I’ve been looking at everything together with the team to improve and be better there.”

Recommended for you

Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.33.14-1-1
MANHUNT Who is this man? Police hunt witness after brutal Northampton attack
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.22.04-1-1
UNDERCOVER STING Shocking First Photo of UK Paedophile Who Planned to Rape 9-Year-Old Girl
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.23.28-1-1
FREAK SLAMMED WITH JAIL Stalker Dad Jailed for Threats to Kill Ex and Her New Partner
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.09.26-1-1
SPOTTED HIM Urgent Hunt for Exeter Man in Assault Probe

Must READ

gunpoint-carjacker-busted-16-years-behind-bars
Gunpoint Carjacker Busted: 16 Years Behind Bars
second-man-nabbed-over-flood-of-hoax-police-calls
Second Man Nabbed Over Flood of Hoax Police Calls
gosport-heros-miraculous-recovery-after-heart-attack-at-wheel
Gosport Hero’s Miraculous Recovery After Heart Attack at Wheel
tragic-blaze-claims-life-in-whetstone-house-fire
Tragic Blaze Claims Life in Whetstone House Fire
investigation-launched-after-smoke-pours-from-fire-at-laundry-in-west-london-2
Massive Blaze Erupts at Industrial Laundry Unit in Park Royal
Met Cracks Down on London’s Biggest Phone Theft Ring, Seizes Thousands of Stolen Mobiles
Murder Probe Launched After Man, 30, Fatally Stabbed in Leicester Home
Man Arrested Over Suspicious Mosque Fire in Peacehaven
Van Driver Busted After Circling Maidstone Car Park Hunting for Child to Abuse
Murder Probe Launched After Man, 30, Fatally Stabbed in Leicester Home
Met Police hunt two men after brutal Holloway car park attack with firearm
Three Adventurous Cavers Rescued After 36-Hour Yorkshire Dales Drama
Dashcam Appeal After M20 Smash Near Folkestone

More For You

Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-07.18.41-1-1
STORM HITS Storm Amy Smashes Britain with 100mph Winds and Torrential Rain
kent-police-is-appealing-for-witnesses-following-a-reported-break-in-at-a-business-in-whitstable-fweTKl-3-1
HIT AND RUN Urgent Appeal After Hit-and-Run Leaves Pedestrian Critically Injured in Faversham
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-10.58.04-1-1
BRING HIM HOME Missing Man Klaidas Last Seen Near Blackfriars Bridge
John_Malkovich_1200_LT-1-1
HUNGER GAMES John Malkovich Takes on Villainous President Snow in Dystopian Thriller

More From UK News in Pictures

Three Adventurous Cavers Rescued After 36-Hour Yorkshire Dales Drama
Asylum Seeker Skates Jail After Creepy Online Chat with ‘14-Year-Old’
Murder Probe Launched After Man, 30, Fatally Stabbed in Leicester Home
Dame Jilly Cooper, legendary romance author behind hits like Rivals and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, has died aged 88
Three Adventurous Cavers Rescued After 36-Hour Yorkshire Dales Drama
Woman Jailed for Running Down Man Near Sittingbourne
Murder Probe Launched After Man, 30, Fatally Stabbed in Leicester Home
Imam Wounded in Hounslow as Police Probe Possible Motive
Major Road Closed following Collision in Southampton
Worcester on Edge as Missing Woman Sparks Urgent Police Search
eltham-man-caught-with-child-sexual-abuse-images-featured-1-1
Paedophile Armed With Shocking Child Abuse Images Held Off for Years Before Court Action
542219949_1202701335228063_7076088472067200755_n-1
JUSTICE SERVED Meet the criminals locked up across south London this September 2025 – from a twisted teacher to a deadly biker, their shocking crimes laid bare
police-met-stock-4-742x536-4-copy-1
KILLED BY POLICE VAN Man Dies After Crash Near Westminster Bridge
FB_IMG_1759585732298-1-1
MIDNIGHT ATTACK Man Wanted Over Brutal Assault in Lewes
51180338-8fb0-4808-b060-764312b0feb2-1-1
“Bingo Brawling”: Understanding the Competitive Side of Bingo
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-18.31.37-1-1
TRAFFIC CHAOS Car Flips Over at Busy Folkestone Junction, Causing Chaos
SEARCH CONTINUES New CCTV Clip Emerges in Hunt for Missing Maidstone Woman
Screenshot-2025-10-04-130518-1-1
BRIGHTON SHOCK Teen Found Bleeding in City Centre Late at Night
police-met-stock-5-copy-2-1
FATAL CRASH IOPC Launches Urgent Witness Appeal After Fatal Collision Involving Met Police
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.48.08-1-1
LOCKED UP Leeds Man Banged Up for Harehills Chaos
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-11.42.15-1-1
Sex Offender Jailed for Making Indecent Child Images

More From UKNIP

Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-09.33.00-1-1
Hidden Gems for Nighttime Entertainment Across Kent
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-08.35.31-1-1
TRAGIC CRASH British Teen Who Served Dubai Jail Sentence for Sex with 17-Year-Old Killed in Police Chase Crash
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-08.06.17-1-1
HORRIFIC ATTACK Man Suffered Broken Knuckle in Chesham Station Assault
Screenshot-2025-10-04-at-07.32.08-1-1
SPOONS KNIFE ATTACK Stabbing Shocker in Leatherhead Town Centre