At the opening round of the Estonian Open Circuit Championship at the Bikernieki circuit in Riga, 33 cars competed in the BMW 325 Cup class. The race was also part of the Baltic Championship.
The first race was won by Latvian Konstantins Calko ahead of compatriot Matiss Mezaks and Lithuanian Paulius Urbonavicius. Estonia's best finisher was Remo Raudsepp in 16th place, Enar Klaus Kunman was 19th, Pavel Beskrovnoi 20th, Carmen Kraav 25th and Kristo Krinpus 27th. The second race was a trio of Calko, Lithuanian Karolis Jovaisa and Latvian Martins Lapins. Krinpus was fifth, Kraav 14th and Kunman 17th.
The BMW 325 Cup was the only Estonian championship class, but Estonians also took part in other races. Simo Lind came first in both BTC2 races, Mikk Maaten was first in the first TCR race and second in the second. "We broke the steering wheel in practice and had a bit of a struggle to get the car ready for the race," said Maaten. "The first race took some time to adjust and Valters Zviedris got away, but I had better speed in the final part of the race. At the start of the second race, we got a gap on him when one of the faster class cars came between us at the start and I had to brake. I caught up but couldn't overtake. Actually, there was one chance, as it was only the first race of the season, I didn't want to attack like crazy."
In the six-hour endurance race, the ALM Customer Racing team (Peeter Peek, Ranno Bundsen and Sven Karuse) won the TCR class, while in the A3000 class, Jõujaam (Andres Altpere, Lasse Hurt and Märt Keskküla) was first. In the two-hour race of the Nankang Endurance Academy, Jõujaam took first place in the BTC3 class, RS Racing Team was third in the same class and LND Fixus Racing won the BTC2 class. In the Historic Formulae, Toomas Hunt was fourth in both races.
"It's good that the race was organised at all, the corona limits were pretty tough. Although some may have had to miss the race due to the restrictions, it was still nice to see a good turnout of Estonians," said Raimo Kulli, chairman of the EAL circuit committee. "The starting grid of 33 cars in the BMW 325 Cup Estonian Championship class meant very close racing. Unfortunately, many of the Estonian drivers were unlucky."
The Baltic and Estonian Championships will continue in Audruring from 18-20 June.
Photo: Dzintars Lapins
Text: Kristjan Sooper, Estonian Motor Sports Association
