Even though Projekt E already started during the Höljes RX weekend, the electric rallycross series can still be considered a project in development, and this also includes bringing names to compete on it, and two additions elevate its profile at the Riga RX weekend, which are Cyril Raymond and Janis Baumanis.
Home boy Baumanis will debut in Projekt E with a Ford Fiesta ERX, at the same venue where the car was shown for the first time in 2019. Baumanis has his piece of history with STARD, the company responsible for building the machinery, and this changes the route of his schedule in 2020, as initially the Latvian driver was set to drive one of the Audi S1 EKS RX of KYB Team JC, but Mattias Ekström took the place as Baumanis wouldn’t be able to compete the full season.
Raymond’s case had him still discussing plans for the 2020 season until the moment, but the Euro RX event winner was called by Citroën to give the awaited competitive debut to the Citroën C3 ERX, based in the C3 R5 rally car with the REVelution powertrain from STARD. The C3 ERX was initially set to debut at Höljes with factory driver Mads Østberg at the wheel, but the team missed the round, meaning the debut was moved to Riga and assigned to Raymond, who not only is a rallycross specialist but also quite familiar with French machinery, as he comes from his Euro RX entry with a Peugeot 208 WRX and his 2019 World RX campaign with a GCK Clio R.S RX.
The inaugural event for Projekt E at Höljes saw only three cars join the grid, with Hoonigan’s Ken Block winning the event against Rallytechnology’s Natalie Barratt and Ford Austria’s Hermann Neubauer.
The Riga round of Projekt E will be held on 20 September, following the traditional two-day format that is used for most rallycross competitions, while the World RX will retain the double header format for one last time in 2020.
PHOTOS: STARD, Cyril Raymond
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