Egon Kaur: Everything looks very good because winter has returned – minus degrees, some snow – very good conditions for having a winter rally there. We can always wish for a bit more snow and ice, but it's plenty for us at least. In the second pass, gravel will come out, but it is normal, I think."

Emīls Blūms: "It is very cool that Mr. Sniedzāns has again negotiated perfect winter conditions with Mother Nature. Those six special stages will be very demanding from the crew because we will have to fight for every meter and there is no room to catch a breath. There will be a very intense competition."

Kalvis Blums: "Capital! Fantastic surface! I'm surprised by the second special stage. I didn't know that there were roads with such an interesting configuration in Latvia. The whole rally is super, but the second special stage is a surprise."

Jānis Vorobyovs: "Really wintry and beautiful special stages. Very, very cute. And the snow banks are made just to push against them. It will be cool driving. The speed stages are both very fast, very technical, and with a twist. I was looking forward to something like that. For snowmen is a very interesting approach, they have created the track for drivers of classic drive cars - fast, dynamic, not very tight, but there are also places to get hooked and stay. The track is simply fantastic."

Elvis Hermanis: "It's winter! Exactly the kind of winter I like. There's ice, a small cover of snow, normal snow banks and if the sun would shine and the sky would be clear, then you couldn't wish for anything better."

Matīss Mežaks: "Perfect! Perfect! I don't know what Sniedzāns is doing with the weather, but no one believed it, but it is! Let's enjoy it tomorrow."

Edijs Bergmanis: "Great! The main thing is that it doesn't snow overnight. Right now everything is great, complicated, fast - very beautiful!"

Sakari Verimaa: "We didn't even have anything to do at home. And any rally is better than sitting at home. We found out about the Baltic Sea Rally Championship and decided to participate in it because we participated in some in the nineties. We thought, why not?! We like these stages very simple and very fast. It's something very different to Finland. The roads are much straighter here. It's not good for our car because it has a smaller engine and doesn't have so much power. But we're here to enjoy the rally."

Rally Sarma 2024 was opened in the late afternoon of February 9 in the center of Gulbene, and the competition is scheduled for February 10. More information about the course of the competition and the list of participants can be found on the website of the Latvian Rally Championship at autorally.lv. Tickets for the Sarma 2024 rally can be purchased on the ticket sales platform eKase.lv.

Photo: Dace Janova (4rati.lv)