Last weekend, in changing weather conditions, the Baltic scale circuit racing festival “Pärnu Summer Race 2025” took place in Pärnu. It included the third round of the Baltic Touring Car Championship, the opening rounds of the Estonian Historic Formula Championship, and the renewed Baltic Time Attack series. Organized by Baltic Racing Series, the event brought together over 150 participants from 8 countries, delivering exciting battles over two days for both on-site spectators and online viewers.
Thursday and Friday saw sunny weather for tests and practice sessions at Porsche Ring, followed by colder but still dry conditions on Saturday morning for qualifying in the Baltic sprint classes. In the most popular BMW 325 CUP class, Estonian Ragnar Simuland was fastest in qualifying but had to start from P2 due to a penalty from the previous round. This promoted Lithuanian Aurimas Mištautas to pole, with Emilija Ulvydaite in third, and Latvians Matīss Maļinovskis and Jānis Horeliks starting fourth and fifth.
The first BMW 325 CUP race was held in very variable and tricky conditions – the track was initially wet, then began to dry, only to be hit by rain again. Mištautas delivered an excellent performance, controlling the race throughout and converting pole into a win. He was followed by overall leader Simuland, title rival Maļinovskis, and surprise Latvian rookie Adrians Apsītis, who overtook both Ulvydaite and Horeliks in the final laps.
In race two, Simuland finally started from pole and drove a dominant race, winning by nearly five seconds. Mištautas finished second after a tough battle with Maļinovskis and Apsītis. That meant Simuland won the round, with Mištautas second and Maļinovskis third – matching their current championship standings. Apsītis took the Rookie class win, Karol Wyka (Poland) was first in Masters, and Normunds Dobums claimed gold in the Gentlemen class.
The new BMW TURBO CUP class delivered its most thrilling round so far. Though fewer cars started than in Kaunas or Riga, the top four fought closely throughout both races. With a third place in race one and a win in race two, Latvian Artjoms Kočlamazašvili took the overall victory. Iceland's Brynjolfur Thorkelsson won the first race, becoming the first Icelandic winner in Baltic circuit racing history, and placed second overall. Mantas Jasiulevičius (Lithuania) finished third and retains the championship lead, just four points ahead of fellow Lithuanian Algirdas Gelžinis and Kočlamazašvili.
The BTC classes also featured exciting battles, though each of the three classes saw dominant winners. In the top-tier BTC3, Lithuanian Tomas Jatkevičius (BMW 3 Series) had a tough round, finishing sixth in race one with a borrowed car and retiring in race two due to a technical issue. Fellow Lithuanian Arturas Kliobavičius won both races and took over the BTC3 points lead. In BTC2, Estonian Kairo Kallas (Honda Civic) continued his perfect season with seven wins in seven races. In BTC1, Lithuanian Tomas Buskevičius (Honda Civic) also solidified his championship lead with a double win.
In the V1600 class, Mareks Matvejevs (Opel Astra) demonstrated his experience and skill in the slippery conditions, winning both races and taking the overall win. Championship runner-up Nauris Agafonovs (Toyota Yaris) finished second, while Arvīds Rumbēns (Suzuki Swift) scored his first podium of the season in third. In ABC RACE, overall leader Arturs Daņiļevskis (Peugeot 206) continued his strong form, winning both races to claim his sixth victory out of seven races this season. Roberts Ozoliņš (Honda Civic) was second in both the round and standings, followed by Andris Misiņš (Toyota Yaris).
The fastest and most powerful GT races featured intense multi-class battles to determine who would cross the line first. In race one, GT AM+ winner Mārtiņš Lukstiņš (Latvia, Porsche Cayman) took the flag, while race two was won by Gedeminas Baksys (Lithuania, Nissan 200SX), earning victory in GT PRO. The GT AM win went to Aivaras Remeika (Seat Leon).
GT cars also delivered excellent racing in Sunday’s combined “Hankook Endurance Challenge” and “Nankang Endurance Academy” two-hour endurance race. A total of 21 teams across seven classes took the start. The race began on a very wet track that gradually dried. Early on, three teams seemed to be in contention, but Reimpex by GSR (Ginetta G56) spun and got stuck off-track, losing more than a lap.
A fierce battle followed between Porsche Latvia Racing Team and Baltic Karting Academy (both driving Porsche Caymans). The Lithuanians initially had the edge in wet conditions, but chose not to change tires during their mandatory pit stop – sticking with wets on a drying track. This proved costly, requiring a second pit stop to switch to slicks. Porsche Latvia Racing Team capitalized on this with the right strategy and strong pace to win both overall and in GT AM+. Baltic Karting Academy finished second overall and first in GT AM. Other class winners included RS Motorsport Jūrmala (BMW 325 CUP), RS Racing Team (BTC3), Binny Racing (BMW TURBO CUP), MKM Racing (BTC1), and Auto Kaslita (BTC2).
In the Estonian Historic Formula Championship, an impressive 20 historic formulas took to the track. Drivers had to contend with variable weather – the first race was wet and slippery, while the second was held in dry conditions. In race one, Raitis Mūrnieks (MONDIAL class) took a hard-fought win ahead of Indulis Rukuts (OPEN class). Rukuts crossed the line first in race two, but had overtaken under yellow flags and was penalized. As a result, Andris Griķis won the race and the MONDIAL class. Rukuts won the OPEN class overall, while Sten Suban (Estonia) triumphed in EASTER class.
The next Baltic Racing Series event will take place on the last weekend of August at Biķernieki Circuit, as the grand “Riga Summer Race” returns after a five-year break. The next round of the Baltic Touring Car Championship will take place at the end of July in Kaunas, Lithuania.