On the second weekend in May, the opening round of the DeWALT Grand Prix of the Northern European and Baltic Automobile Championship was held at the Bikernieki Circuit in Riga. The season opener also featured a number of Estonian circuit riders, who finished on the podium in their respective classes.
In the Baltic GT class Raivo Tamm in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 took third place in the Baltic GT championship. In the NEZ, or Northern European Championship Porsche GT3 Cup, the Estonian finished fifth. Oliver Tiirmaa, who competed in Riga in a similar car in the NEZ class, scored 42 points, the same number as Tamm. The best driver in the opening stage of the Baltic GT was Lithuanian Arunas Geciauskas (Mitsubishi EVO) and the best in the NEZ Porche Cup was Finn Tommi Haru (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991).
Peeter Peek, who drove a Honda Civic, brought the class win to Estonia. Unfortunately, Enar-Klaus Kunman (BMW E36 325i) had to retire from the opening stage of the season with 0 points.
In the NEZ BMW Xtreme class, six drivers with Estonian license started the season opener, and Thomas Padovani (BMW E36 325i) was the best overall driver of the weekend, winning both races on Friday. Kevin Kuusik, making his circuit debut, was third in Friday's second 10-lap race. Tenth place overall.
Gert Jugala was the best Estonian to finish Saturday's 45-minute race, and he took second place. Juha Huhtala / Markus Gronthal (BMW E36 325i), the best man in the opening round of the BMW Xtreme season, was 6.967 seconds behind the Estonian after 28 laps. For Jugala, fifth place in class overall for the week. Among the Estonians, Kren Tunder, Peep Peeterson and Sven Karuse also scored points in the opening stage.
The first race of the circuit season was also attended by the BEC 4H, the Baltic 4-hour endurance championship. The opening event of the season attracted 19 teams from five countries. Among the Estonian teams, ALM Motorsport, with Sten-Dorian Piirimägi , Andre Kiil and Robin Vaks, finished in third place, after a day of excitement, drama and outings. The Estonians competing in the Seat Leon SEQ V3 TCR were four laps behind the BMW M3 E92 of Rotoma Racing, who won the opening stage, at the end of the four-hour race. Finishing fifth, the GSR Motorsport VW Golf GTI TCR car was shared the wheel with Lithuanian Ernesta Globytega, Estonian Mikk Maateen.
In the Formula Historic class there were also six Estonian competitors at the start of the season. The Estonians did a clean job in this class over the weekend, and so Jaak Kuul, Taavi Kuul and Taavi Kroon hold the triple lead after the opening stage. Ninth place in the opening stage went to Toomas Hunt and Toivo Ninnas just missed out on the top 10. Estonia's Ain Lähker, 25-10, scored no points from the opening stage of the season.
The Legends car class win in Riga went to Henri Tuomaala (Ford Sedan 1934), the best Volga was Ainars Senfelds (Volga) and the Baltic Touting Car 2 /TCR win went to Ernesta Globyte (VW Golf GTI TCR) from Lithuania. The best in the opening round of the season in the V1600 class of the NEZ series went to Noora Lahteenmaki (Honda Civic) and victory in the Riga round of the most powerful class V8 went to Jesse Vartiainen (Chevrolet Camaro).
DEWALT Grand Prix 2018 VIDEO tipphetked:
DEWALT Grand Prix 2018 detailed results can be found at from here.
The scoreboard after the DEWALT Grand Prix 2018 is as follows from here.
The second stage of the Baltic Championship season will be held on 8-10 March. June at the Bikernieki circuit in Riga.
