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Although the debut of the weekend at the Bikernieki track in the World Rallycross Championship “Project E“The class was successful, in the future the familiar” SuperCar “class would also be preferred, but under good conditions it would not be a problem to stay with the electric car, said in a conversation with reporters on Sunday Jānis Baumanis.
It has already been reported that Latvian pilot Jānis Baumanis took second place in the rallycross world championship Riga stage (“Neste World RX of Rīga”) in the electric car class, where four drivers started.
“I’m drunk, the hormone of happiness is full inside me, so I definitely managed to feel the taste of rallycross,” says Baumanis after the first start of his career in the “Projekt E” class, who will be able to drive the new electric car on Monday, when the last points ”Company.
The highest step of the podium remained unattainable, but there was no failure in the third stage of qualification, when the rear wheel was inspected.
The Citroen car was superior on the Bikernieki track, but looking at the other stages, I think Ford will have an advantage. Cyril Raymond’s car shock absorbers are adapted to the rally, so the weight transfer is more equal, resulting in the same load on the wheels. The machine itself is also more stable, which helps to accelerate in corners, ”Baumanis lists some of the aspects that did not allow him to make his debut in the Projekt E class.
Meanwhile, Baumanis will talk to the team about the possibilities to start in another stage of “Projekt E” this season very soon.
“Tomorrow [pirmdien] let’s sit at the table and decide on my future, because the team was happy with my performance, ”Baumanis emphasized, noting that for the time being, the“ Projekt E ”class puts the greatest emphasis on gaining recognition, not on sports results. “I think that the organizers are currently working more on promoting electric cars. Many companies also want to be environmentally friendly, so Projekt E is a grateful platform for that. ”
The organizers of the rallycross helped to popularize the “Projekt E” class with the attraction of the British athlete Natalia Barata, who once took more than 40 stages in the World Rally Championship. She is the only one who has taken two competitions in this class, so she takes the leading position in the overall rating.
Baumanis did not hide that he would be ready to become one of the flagships of the “Projekt E” class. “I would like to expect some strong pilots with good cars in this class, then the race would be even more interesting. At the moment, we were just two pilots who lost 1.5-2 seconds to SuperCar class cars, ”explains the athlete, who sees quite a lot of potential in electric cars.
“I think that for a car with such a weight (an electric car is heavier than 200 kilograms), these results are very commendable. When there are 12-15 riders in the championship, the fights will be much more interesting for us and the spectators. ”
The Projekt E class would have had the opportunity to assess the skills of at least 12 pilots this year, but due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19, work was suspended at the largest electric car battery factories.
“The largest factories are in Spain and the United Kingdom. That was where the biggest outbreaks of Covid-19 were, so people sat and waited for the batteries to be produced again. This is also the only reason why the “Projekt E” class is developing so slowly, “Baumanis says about the not-so-distant future in rallycross discipline.
The Latvian athlete also revealed that the talks with the team made it clear that the starts in the “Projekt E” class were much cheaper than in the “SuperCar” test. This, too, can be one of the preconditions for another well-known pilot to take part in an electric car soon.
Starts in the SuperCar class for Bauman are likely to come to an end this year, but this discipline will be a priority in the future context. Supporters have “pressed the pause button” this season in connection with the rallycross, but there is still hope to complete a stage in the already familiar “Projekt E” class. In order to drive an electric car more often, Baumanis would like to make a good offer from a supporter.
For Bauman, it was its debut in the electric car championship “Projekt E” established this year, where a Latvian athlete represents the “Ferratum” team with a “Ford Fiesta” car.
Baumanis originally planned to spend this season as a member of KYB Team JC, but as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, sponsors had to make changes to their funding plans, as a result of which Baumanis was replaced by 2016 world rallycross champion Matīss Ēstrstrs.
At the end of March, Baumanis joined the KYB Team JC ranks. Initially, the pilots for the 2020 season had already been completed, but KYB Team JC was allowed to start in the championship with the consent of the other teams and the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
Last season, Baumanis finished in the top three in Norway and Canada, but he was sixth overall. The Latvian was among the six finalists in five stages.
For the previous three seasons, Baumanis represented the STARD team, but before that he rode in the “Austria” team for one year.
Baumanis is the 2015 European Champion and the 2014 bronze medalist in the “Super 1600” class. In 2016, he spent the first full season of the SuperCar planet championship.
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