Team MRF Tyres claim their first podium at FIA ERC Rally Liepaja

The MRF Tyres team registered their first-ever podium coming second at the FIA ERC Rally Liepaja since entering the European Rally Championship in 2020. The Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 started the day in second place, saw 90.92km of special stages which were divided into six stages of action around the Latvian coastal town of Liepaja. There was a closely fought battle with Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (VW), Efrén Llarena/ Sara Fernández (Skoda) and Alexey Lukyanuk/Dmitriy Eremeev (Citroën). The four cars were separated by 13.4seconds by the end of the rally.

The day started with the Neste Stage which was 18.42km long. MRF drivers Craig Breen and Paul Nagle came in third in the stage with a time of 9:18.2 minutes, just 3.4 seconds off the lead. They followed this pace for the rest of the stages and finished 15.2 seconds off the lead car. Breen and Nagle were able to finish the race in third on the final stage to finish second in the overall standings.

Craig Breen, driver of Hyundai i20 R5, said “We had to push for the whole rally. This series is very strong with some of the best drivers competing and we had to fight hard at every stage. Getting our first ever podium in the ERC is very satisfying for me and Team MRF Tyres. The Hyundai i20 R5 felt good through the rally. We entered the European Rally Championship a year ago and Rally Liepaja is only our third gravel rally and a podium finish here is a great result.”

The eleventh stage would be a new addition to the rally with a 9.93km fast section ending at the grandstand. Team MRF Tyres will compete in the next round of the European Rally Championship with the Rally Roma Capitale to be held from July 23 to 26.