Over 150 participants are preparing for the start in DeWALT Grand Prix 2025!
Already on Thursday evening, the Paddock of Bikernieki began to fill up with participants: guests from Poland were the first to appear here, followed by the closer neighbours and racers from Lithuania, Estonia and Scandinavian countries. The number of participants is really impressive: more than 150 participants will be waiting for their shining moments in a racing track.
The main group of the BaTCC series gathered as many as 78 participants, including not only Latvian athletes, but also the fastest racers from Estonia, Poland or Iceland and, of course, quite a large force of Lithuanian athletes. Eye-catching vehicles also are stuck among the most furious and powered GT classes here: Ginetta, Porsche, Maserati, Nissan, Lamborghini and BMW cars.
Paulius Urbonavičius, who performed well during the first stage and surprised everyone with his pace, competing in the BGT AM standings with one of the Ginetta cars, did not hide that he is looking forward to the second race of the BaTCC season: “The first event went smoothly, I felt confident in the rain conditions, and I was able to take advantage of it and break out ahead. The car withstood perfectly, only a few cosmetic repairs had to be made, and I came to Riga with confidence. The track is familiar to me, but it always creates a sense of respect, there is simply no place for mistakes there. You need to drive fast, but at the same time very smart. I have a goal to maintain a leading position in the class, but I know it won’t be easy – especially if it’s dry.”
The participants of the Polish championship, of which about 60 are expected to gather in Riga, should compete in as many as 9 different classifications, including sprint and endurance races. Some of the participants of this national championship are already waiting for the starters on Friday, until another large number of them will line up on the track together with the BaTCC standings.
There is a surprisingly large number of endurance races: 19 of them plan to fight in the Nankang Endurance Academy series, while the more powerful ones will compete in the Hankook Endurance Cup standings. As many as 19 teams from Poland will add to their positions in the starting line-ups, so the organizers assure that the schedule will change and the endurance race will take place in two stages. Here you will be able to see a wide variety of equipment from Mini to Mercedes Benz: so really impressive battles and beautiful overtaking moments are promised.
“We are glad that the Baltic Championship that we are organizing attracts more and more participants from different countries and athletes gather here to show and prove that all the fun is not in big budgets, but in fights with similar equipment. In addition to the already developed BMW 325 Cup series, we can already enjoy the growing potential and popularity of the BMW Turbo Cup. It is nice that the beautiful partnership with the organizers of the Polish championship established last year continues this year and we can meet them on our home track, at the same time, at the end of the season, inviting the participants of the Baltic Championship to try their luck and skills in Poznan,” Andis Meilands, one of the organizers of BaTCC, shared his thoughts.
Well, as for mono classes, traditionally they have received a lot of attention and a large group of participants. Aurimas Mištautas, who performed well on his home track in Kaunas, will really not have time to breathe: all the participants will be striving for important points of the championship.
Asked about the upcoming race in Riga, A. Mištautas did not mince words: “The expectations are simple: to drive fast and without mistakes, if all this works out – I think we can expect some result that we can be happy about. Riga is quite a difficult and dangerous track, so stability becomes the most important element here.”
7 cars will also be preparing for their start in the BMW Turbo Cup standings, this time, as during the first stage, athletes from Lithuania, Latvia and Iceland.
The organizers remind that all the races that will take place on Saturday will be available to watch not only on the track, but also during the live broadcast. The schedule of the event and a detailed list of participants can be found on the organizers’ website batcc.eu.
