Reinis Nitišs

THE FIRST / THE LAST CORNER

ESTERING, GERMANY
01/10/2017

Today, the final battles of All-Inkl.com World RX of Germany, the eleventh round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, took place in Estering. Reinis Nitišs was tenth overall after day one, and was eleventh at intermediate classification, advancing to the semi-finals. Starting from the third row, Nitišs got into an accident on the first corner, losing time and any hope of a good result – he concluded the event in twelfth position.

Overnight rain made the track muddy and especially challenging, but it gradually dried off during the day, making it possible to switch to dry weather tires. Driving the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro Supercar, Reinis Nitišs set the eleventh time in both Q3 and Q4, guaranteeing himself a spot in the semi-final, which he finished in sixth position. That gave him twelfth position in the event overall, with the Jēkabpils native earning 7 championship points. Reinis’ teammate, Mattias Ekstrom, won the final.

“The morning’s first heat took place on a somewhat wet track. I got into the lead after the first corner, but that did not last long. Bakkerud drove into the side of my car on the second lap, pushing me off the racing line. In addition to losing the position, the steering was also damaged and I was unable to regain the lost time. Q4 also started well, I got into second place (behind Kevin Eriksson), but due to the large amount of dust, I could not see the entrance of the Joker section at the end of the race, losing a lot of time,” begins Reinis Nitišs.

“In the first corner of the semi-final, everything happened in accordance with the “best practices” of Estering – the leading drivers slid to the outside, and I set the car up to take advantage of this by going on the inside, but my plan was changed by Andreas Bakkerud, who spun directly in front of me. There was contact between our cars, which resulted in a spin for me as well. A very unlucky situation that prevented me from reaching the expected result. Of course, I am very happy for my teammates, Mattias Ekstrom and Toomas Heikkinen, who both got spots on the podium.”

SC_official_GER_2017

Reinis Nitišs participation in the FIA World Rallycross Championship is possible thanks to the support of Lattelecom, Citadele, Latvijas Gāze, Ošukalns and the city of Jēkabpils, as well as Eibe-L, Hertz, If, Light Guide Optics International, OK Būvmateriāli, Radex, RA EVENTS, and Sonora. Informative support is provided by DELFI.

The twelfth and final round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, Gumtree World RX of South Africa, will take place from November 10 to 12 in the Republic of South Africa.