Latvia has been officially included in the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, the organizers announced on Thursday.
The first ever WRC event in Latvia will take place from July 18 to 21, the International Automobile Federation’s (FIA) World Motor Sport Council decided on Thursday.
The rally will cover the area from Liepaja to Riga, with stages also taking place in Tukums, Talsi, Kuldiga and Southern Kurzeme.
Latvia will become the 37th country to host a WRC event.
The WRC 2024 season calendar includes 13 stages covering Europe, Africa, South America and Asia from January to November.
The 52nd WRC season will start with winter rallies in Monte Carlo and Sweden before heading to Kenya and returning to Europe with stages in Croatia, Portugal, Italy and Poland.
After the WRC’s stage Latvia, the eighth stage of the event, there will be stages in Finland and Greece, Chile and Central Europe, with the season finale in Japan.
The Latvian round will cover more than 250 kilometers.
“The WRC event is a unique opportunity for Latvia, as the championship is followed on TV and digital channels by more than 800 million viewers worldwide,” said Raimonds Strokss, director of the rally organizer RA Events, adding that around 50,000 spectators from abroad will arrive to watch the Latvian stage in person.
The organizers’ goal in organizing this international sports competition remains unchanged – to show the world that Latvia is a wonderful country that is worth including in tourism destinations, as well as to contribute to the country’s and regions’ economy through the competition, Strokss emphasizes.
The organizers point out that the sale of rally tickets will start on October 23 via the Bilesu Paradize ticket outlet.
Source: BNS
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