LATVIA With a ruined castle on one of its four islands, Lake Aluksne in Pilssala is the one of most beautiful venues for high level powerboat competitions in Latvia. In the summer of 2014 it will host the World Championship rounds for Formula 4 and the European Championship for JT250 junior classes. Attracting more young people to the sport, to compete and just for fun, is one of the priorities of the Latvian federation. The Youth Development Through Sports framework gives those aged 8 to 18 a chance to try powerboating through the Formula Future programme. The Akvashelf Racing Team, in co-operation with Bush Boat Construction, have provided six new boats, boosting the development of Formula Future throughout all the Latvian regions. The summer of 2014 will also see an Latvian Open championship. Five rounds for evaluation throughout the season will take place in Jekabpils, Jurmala, Aluksne, Liepaja and Jelgava. In 2013, the F-4S World Championship round, which took place in Aluksne, included three Latvian pilots. All three, Ivo Egle (Nord Ost), Nikita Lijcs (Jurmala Racing Team) and Maksimilian Tuckovs (Riga Powerboat Team) were youth champions in JT250, which underlines the success of the programme. The European Championship for S550 was also held, with the silver medal going to Martins Bergholcs from the Liepaja team UPB Energy.
There was a Latvian presense at the Baltic Boat Show trade fair, with the Riga Powerboat Team and Jurmala Racing Team promoting interest in powerboats amongst the general public. Formula 2 Riga Powerboat Team pilot Uvis Slakteris finished second in the F2 European Championship. The 24 Hours of Rouen marathon was an achievement for Riga Powerboat Team pilots Uvis Slakteris and Atis Slakteris. As members of an international team they won third place overall and are actively preparing for the 2014 competition. Latvian Pilot of the Year went to Nikita Lijcs (Jurmala Racing Team.) He took part in four rounds of the world championship; in France, Hungary, Latvia and Sweden, and was fourth overall amongst Formula 4S by gaining fourth place in the European Championship in Finland, third place overall in the ADAC Motorboat Masters and fourth place overall in the Eurofin Trophy. With Formula 4S in the Eurofin Trophy he raced in the MAD-CROC Baba Racing Team and will continue his agreement with them for 2014. A victory and a gold medal went to our young pilots Nikita Lijcs and Toms Smilskalns in the eight hour endurance race in the World Championship in Moscow. Our team of four pilots ran against Endurance Pneumatics Class 4. It was an exciting race until the very end, with the two teams making an exact
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same number of rounds, but Akvashelf Racing excelled in the end. Preparation was key to this success. Team manager and owner Dmitry Schiller chose the best and the toughest pilots amongst young athletes. Each of them spent almost two hours on the watercourse and in eight hours they completed 163 rounds, around 360 km. The Akvashelf Racing Team took part in two classes in Moscow, and in World Championship Class 2, our world champions, pilots Dmitry Schiller, Andrejs Dudaks, Normunds Razna and Maris Zemracis, won third place. The Daugava Aquatorium is situated immediately in front of Old Riga, and is one of the most important home watercourses for the Latvian Water Motor Sports Federation. This course is our pride and joy; it lies on a very beautiful spot, but is a very difficult and complicated track for pilots. During the Riga Water Festival, international competitions will be held there, including the Formula 2 World Championship and the Pneumatic Endurance European Championship. The Latvian Water Motor Sports Federation would like to express its sincere gratitude to all our medalists, pilots, coaches, mechanics and supporters. The federation wishes everyone safe starts and many medals for the 2014 season!