WRC promotors and Rally Leipāja organisers, RA Events, have held talks over the possible inclusion of the Latvian event becoming part of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship.
Rally Leipāja is scheduled for the 2020 FIA European Rally Championship on 14-16 August but could become a world championship event after FIA WRC Managing Director Oliver Ciesla said the series may need to adopt rallies into the new schedule that are not normally on the WRC calendar.
Raimonds Strokss, director of RA Events said: “RA Events and WRC Promoter held the first round of talks on Monday, where we discussed multiple organisational aspects, terms and conditions, and many other topics that need to be covered for Latvia to host a FIA World Rally Championship round alongside a round of the FIA ERC.“
Strokss said that they are not yet close to a final decision and admits talks will have to progress quickly.
He added: “This will be a very challenging task as there is less than two months until the set event date. We will invite our partners – the Government of Latvia, our rally cities Liepāja and Talsi – to a discussion, in order to evaluate all the organisational workload, financial conditions and other aspects of the proposal.
“Only by working together and at a very rapid pace, can we find a solution to host a FIA WRC round in Latvia alongside the FIA ERC.”
If an agreement is made, discussions would then begin with Eurosport Events as to how a combined event would be managed in the best interests of the ERC and its drivers and teams.
Whether an agreement is made or not, Rally Liepāja will host a FIA European Rally Championship round in August.
