Hayden Paddon and John Kennard head into this weekend’s Tet Rally Liepāja up against some tough competition, particularly from Mārtiṇš Sesks who will bid for a repeat victory on his home round in Latvia. Sesks beat Paddon home in their last encounter at Rally Poland. In 2022 Sesks won all 12 Special Stages and is firm favourite to win again.
Tet Rally Liepāja organisers have attracted an entry of 58 crews with 46 eligible for FIA European Rally Championship points and 17 lining up for action in the Hankook-equipped FIA Junior ERC Championship, of which the Latvian event is the second round of the season, having hosted the very first Junior ERC event back in 2014.
Twenty drivers are entered in headlining Rally2 cars, including Pirelli-equipped championship leader Hayden Paddon from the Hyundai-equipped BRC Racing Team, Team MRF Tyres’ defending ERC champion Efrén Llarena and Mathieu Franceschi, the French gravel title winner from 2022, who is the highest-seeded driver using Michelin tyres.
Citroën C3 Rally2-driving Mads Østberg, meanwhile, joins Paddon as one of two WRC event winners in the field. Max McRae, the 18-year-old nephew of the late Colin McRae, is all set for his second Junior ERC appearance following his points-scoring debut in Poland.
The ERC stars and their cars will be put through their paces on 10 stages measuring 183.89 kilometres. Highlights include back-to-back passes of the largely untried Tukums test on leg one, a super special stage through Liepāja’s city streets on Saturday evening and the rally-deciding Krogzemji Power Stage from 15:05 local time on Sunday.
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