From September 20 to 22 in Poland, Tor Poznan race track, the fifth and final Baltic Touring Car Championship round took place to determine the season winners. The event was hosted by WSMP series and all together brought 201 participants from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, France. The sunny weather and crowded race track ensured great atmosphere at the event.
28 cars entered the Poznan event in the BMW 325 CUP class with all the season favorites in shape. Ricards Subeckis had already secured the championship title but still decided to come and have fun on the track and help his Jurmala/Papas saciksu komanda teammate Matiss Malinovskis secure the second position in the standings, as more then 6 participants could theoretically snatch the vice-champion title. KTK Racing division driver Karolis Jovaisa, the 2021 champion, joined the grid aswell to mix things up and he did with style, taking the pole position on Friday afternoon with a lap time of 1:50.535, along side on the grid stood Matiss Malinovskis, while second row was taken by Dream 2 Drive guys – Julius Kirsis(+30 kg success ballast) and Aurimas Mistautas(+40 kg success ballast). Third row – Mantas Jasiulevicius and Ricards Subeckis, who for the whole event carried +70 kg success ballast.
Race 1 started with a good start from front row guys, keeping the positions and letting other behind to fight each other. Jovaisa managed to slowly build the gap to have safe six second lead by the finish. Julius Kirsis held the third position for half a distance but had to surrender to Subeckis who came charging through the field and settled in the third position right behind Malinovskis. Artjoms Koclamazasvili for some time was fourth but a contact with Ramunas Grigaitis forced him down the field. Grigaitis caught also Kirsis and on the last lap managed to snatch fourth, leaving Kirsis in fifth. Aurimas Mistautas crossed the line in sixth position with Jasiulevicius and Karl Lang right behind.
Race 2 had a similar scenario – Jovaisa held the lead followed by Matiss Malinovskis all the way to the finish line. Subeckis was comfortably third to guard the Malinovskis position from opponents. Mantas Jasiulevicius managed to pass Krisjanis Oskerko for fourth and build some gap to hold it till the finish line. Oskerko was fifth and Karl Lang sixth.
Round overall went to Karolis Jovaisa who secured “hat-trick” – pole position and two race wins. Second – Matiss Malinovskis followed by Ricards Subeckis. Fastest “Masters” was Julius Kirsis, with Koclamazasvili second and Janis Horeliks third. “Gentlemen” of the day was Olivier Villeneuve, followed by Normunds Dobums. “Rookie” category was won by Eividas Sitavicius, with a newcomer Saulius Jonaitis in second. “Ladies” trophy went to Erika Arkusauskaite, Emilija Ulvydaite in second.
So, in the season standings among 42 participants Ricards Subeckis is the champion, Matiss Malinovskis second and Julius Kirsis third.
Masters Top 3: Julius Kirsis, Janis Horeliks, Uldis Timaks.
Rookie Top 3: Eividas Sitavicius, Arturs Sarma, Matas Mickevicius.
Gentlemen Top 3: Olivier Villeneuve, Vilnis Batraks, Normunds Dobums.
Ladies Top 2: Emilija Ulvydaite, Erika Arkusauskaite.
The GT their own matters to solve as in classes BGT PRO, BGT AM and BGT AM+ the titles were not decided! The massive 26 car grid with fast and modern machinery was sight to see(and hear) for spectators and a proper fight for the drivers. The BGT PRO had a 3 way battle between “ES Motorsport” Karolis Stasiukynas, “Porsche Baltic” driver Robertas Kupcikas and “DL Team” pilot Lukas Laukaitis. For extra level of competition Tonis Vanaselja entered the race with his “Oldbac Kalana”. The Race 1 belongs to Vanaselja, while Laukaitis managed to pass Stasiukynas and win back some important points in the standings. Saturday race happened without Kupcikas who was in other event at the time. Sunday started with Race 2 and new fights. Sadly, due to technical error Vanaselja had to withdraw from the competition. Kupcikas starting from the back of the grid charged through and was fastest in the class, followed by Stasiukynas and Laukaitis. Race 3 had the same result – in the standings Karolis Stasiukynas is crowned 2024 champion, followed by Kupcikas in second and Laukaitis in third! The “BGT AM” title want to Finnish legend Jyrki Jonkkari, as his nearest potential rival Egidijus Gelunas choose not to challenge him and did not arrive to Poznan. Jonkkari is the BaTCC 2024 champion with 150 points, second place goes to Gelunas, while Aivaras Remeika did just enough to keep the third spot with 77 points. Although Rolandas Salys dominated the class and won all 3 races, he only had 75 points to acquire and that means fourth position in the standings.
“BGT AM+” class had a battle between Rokas Kvedaras and Darius Gaucius with their Caymans. Gaucius won all three and earned his championship title, leaving Kvedaras in second position in the event and in season. Third place man – Martins Lukstins.
“BTC2” class turned out to be a two horse race – multiple time champion Simo Lind vs Kairo Kallas, both were separated by just six points before the event. That it won’t be easy for any of them was proven in Qualifying – they both set identical lap time of 1:47.486, but as Kallas did that first, he started in front of Lind. But Agnius Narbutas was fastest then both of them and started from class pole. The race itself was a bit longer than expected – 20 minutes. Narbutas had a good start and drove away leaving title rivals to battle it out and it was marvellous battle with close racing and overtaking. At midpoint of the race Narbutas’ Honda engine blew up and he had to look at his competitors from the side of the track. Kallas’ front left tire endured a problem shortly before finish flag and he had to slow down a bit and that meant Lind crossed the line first and extended his championship lead by 7 more points. In second race Kairo Kallas was the fastest guy, but for Simo Lind was enough to safely finish second and earn the 2024 title! In Race 3, that by rules don’t count in season standings, victory went to Simo Lind, followed by Kristupas Sablinskas and Maksim Avdejenkov. Andrius Keblys, the third place man in the standings before round 5, had a technical error and DNF in Race 1, but as problems occurred also to Narbutas, Keblys secured the third place in season standings, with Narbutas fourth and Kasparas Skyrelis fifth. Just few points in front of Tadas Petukauskas and Kristupas Sablinskas.
“BTC1” class their own intrigues. Lelde Jukama has participated in all season events, meaning she would lose some points at the end of the season where winner is determined by 8 best race results from the season. Maris Bulans missed the first round and by winning both BTC1 races in Poznan would secure the championship title by just 3 points, and he did that! With 141 point he is the 2024 champion, leaving Lelde Jukama 3 points behind. Dovydas Akstinas had an unlucky weekend in Poznan, as his engine blew up in the Qualifying, eliminating his chance to win the championship and leaving him in the third place in the standings.
“BTC3” had only two participants. Tomas Jatkevicius was faster than Ikars Putnins in the Qualifying, but technical error in Lap 1 forced him to retire, leaving the win to Putnins who in turn had technical problems later in the Endurance race and had to withdraw from Race 2 and Race 3. So Jatkevicius won the Race 2 and earned the 2024 title! Second place goes to Emils Jakrins and third to Marta Starka.
Nankang 2h Endurance.
A very impressive 43 teams entered the 2h endurance race, with 19 entries from Baltics in the Nankang 2h Endurance race. The 4 km long Poznan track was perfect for this big field to spread out a bit and let teams fight. The race went on without major accidents which is a huge thanks to the drivers and great marshal work that resulted in a fantastic experience and fun time on track, making it somewhat like a sprint race.
The most intense moments were in the BTC3 class, where all 3 Estonian teams had chance for the championship title. The race turned out to be duel between Lind Racing(Simo Lind) and Reinup Motorsport(Sven Karuse), where Lind had to be in front of Karuse to claim the title. The battle went on for 60 laps or more than 240 km, right until the very last minute of the season, where Reinup Motorsport were victorious claiming a win in the race and in the championship, leaving 2nd place for Lind Racing and third for RS Racing Team(Raigo Sarapuu/Peeter Kaera), great show by those teams.
The highest ranking team from Baltics was ES Motorsport(Justas Simaska/Romet Reisin), that participated in the WSMP series D4 3500+ class, winning the class and finishing in third place overall out of 43 teams.
Porsche Latvia Racing team(Vadims Vakarjuks/Valters Zviedris) was the next fastest team from Baltic States, winning the BGT AM+ class and taking fifth place overall, second place in the class goes to Baltic Karting Academy, third to Porsche Baltic! BGT AM class victory was well earned by DMK Racing Team(Deividas Sakalauskas/Tomas Baranauskas), with second place to Energizer by RS Parts Motorsport.
“BMW 325 CUP” had the most entries – 5 in the class. Race ended early for the Dream 2 Drive team, but the fight was on between Papas Sacikus komanda/GD Auto and BMW325cup by Gatavas.lt teams. The teams were split by one tenth of a second at the finish line, with victory going BMW325cup by Gatavas.lt team, with third place finish went to Degviela Motorsport team. Good battle was witnessed between BTC2 class Osmo Racing and Fri.Tech Racing team, both teams were separated just by one lap with victory going to Osmo Racing! BTC1 class was won by ACAP Racing by Joujaam but not enough to get infront of LDV Racing, who secured 2nd place in the standings with 4 point advantage over 3rd placed team ACAP Racing by Joujaam.
The 2024 Baltic Touring Car Championship season is over! Stay tuned for news and huge thank you to all participants and supporters in this tough season!
