Mārtiņš Sesks sets the fastest time in Tet Rally Liepāja qualifying

Latvian home crew of Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis set the fastest time on the qualifying stage of the FIA European Rally Championship’s fourth round, Tet Rally Liepāja. The qualifying stage is important in the FIA European Rally Championship as the fastest crews get the chance to choose the starting positions as the first ones for the first leg of the rally.

Tet Rally Liepāja 2023 ©Tet Rally Liepāja

Racing part of Friday started with free practice on the 6,13km long Mazilmāja stage, while later rally crews completed the qualification run on this same stage, with the last part of it taking place in the Vecpils autocross circuit.

Last year’s winners of the Tet Rally Liepāja, Mārtiņš Sesks and Renārs Francis, confirmed their status as favourites to fight for win in the following days of the rally. The Latvian crew, driving the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 car, set a time of 3 minutes and 10,7 seconds, while Estonian Robert Virves with British co-driver Craig Drew (Ford Fiest Rally2) lost exactly 1 second, securing the second position after qualifying. The third fastest crew was Erik Cais / Igor Bacigal (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) from Czechia, losing 1,1 seconds to the leader.

Tet Rally Liepāja 2023 ©Tet Rally Liepāja

The Italians Alberto Battistolli / Simone Scattolin (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) narrowly finished ahead of Norwegian Mads Østberg (Citröen C3 Rally2) by just 0.030 seconds for the fourth and fifth place, while the top six was concluded by last year’s FIA European Rally Championship winner, Efren Llarena (Škoda Fabia Evo).

After qualifying, the crews of Tet Rally Liepāja will choose their starting positions for the first leg of the rally – first three stages (Tukums and Talsi). The starting order selection will take place at the opening ceremony of Tet Rally Liepāja.

Round of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship Tet Rally Liepāja is possible thanks to support provided by Ministry of Education and Science and rally city Liepāja. Special thanks to our general sponsor Tet, sponsors Betsafe, Ramirent, and Sportland, car rental partner Sixt, official insurance partner BTA. Tet Rally Liepāja is organised in association with Dienvidkurzeme region, Talsi region, Tukums region, Kuldīga region, Latvian Automobile Federation, and Latvia travel. Thanks to infrastructure partner Latvia’s State Forests, logistics partner DHL, as well as supporters Canon Biznesa Centrs Liepāja, Fristads, Liepaja Special Economic Zone, and Liepājas Olimpiskais Centrs. Informative support provided by news portal DELFI, and media partners Sporta Avīze and Talsu Vēstis. Thanks to Tet Rally Liepāja friends AKROPOLE, Dienvidkurzeme region, Elnetworks, Flora, FN Serviss, Jānis Pūce, Löfbergs, MB Grupa, OCT Composites, Red Bull, SignTech, and Törley, as well as our technical partner Sports Racing Technologies.

News and other information about Tet Rally Liepāja is available at www.lvrally.com, as well as on social media Twitter @LVRally, Facebook /LVRally, and Instagram /lvrally.