Team MRF Tyres takes a dominant win on Rally Liepaja
Liepaja (Latvia), 19 June 2023: Team MRF Tyres has dominated the The Rally Liepaja, the fourth round of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship with a double podium for MRF Tyres here on Sunday.
Team MRF Tyres drivers Martins Sesks and Renars Francis won the rally by over 41 seconds, taking seven stage wins from the nine stages completed.
They took maximum points, winning an incredibly tight Powerstage by 0.005 seconds to end the weekend on a high.
The Lativan duo, in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, had the rally in control from the outset. They also set the fastest time in qualifying and then made it look easy on the stages.
However, the Latvian roads demanded total confidence and precision from the team, car and from MRF Tyres, and they delivered with aplomb.
With top speeds on the stages topping 120kmph on the loose gravel roads MRF Tyres and Sesks were in absolute control.
The success for MRF Tyres continued with Mads Ostberg and Patrik Barth as they finished third for the MRF Tyres Dealer Team in their Citroen C3 Rally2.
The Norwegian team set competitive times throughout the rally to take their second podium of the season.
Team MRF Tyres saw an additional two cars inside the top 10 with Spanish duo of Efren Llarena and Sara Fernandez coming home in ninth ahead of Italians Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton.
With two wins in a row, Sesks and Renars close in on the title lead and sit in second in the Driver’s standings.
Furthermore, Team MRF Tyres has extended its lead at the top of the Team’s Championship.
The next round of the FIA European Rally Championship is the Rally Sweden, taking the crews to a new gravel round in the Scandanvian summer.
Martin Sesks, Winner, said: “What in incredible rally! I must thank my team and MRF Tyres for giving me such a fantastic car. The tyres were amazing throughout the weekend and really allowed me to push. To win at home once again was amazing. There were so many fans lining the stages! I am looking forward to the next round in Sweden.”
Co-driver Efren Llarena said: “We are finding the speed we need this year. The MRF Tyres have been brilliant and we are looking forward to getting back out and really proving our pace. I would like to congratulate Martins, Renars on their victory and also to Mads and Patrik for their podium on MRF Tyres!”
Simone Campedelli of Team MRF Tyres said: “This is a challenging rally! The roads are so fast and challenging and you earn every point in this Championship. I am really happy to have a clean rally and the MRF Tyres car has been great. Let’s look forward to Sweden and congratulations to Team MRF Tyres and Martins, Renars for their win!”
Overall results for MRF Tyres drivers
1. Sesks/Francis (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)
3. Ostberg/Barth (Citroen C3 Rally 2) +1:04.0
9. Llarena/Fernandez (Skoda Fabia2 Rally evo) +2:18.3
10. Capedelli/Canton (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +2:27.4
13. Mabellini/Lenzi (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 3:01.0
16. Radstrom/Johansson (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +4:00.7
