Top 10 ERC Rally Liepāja highlights

Instead, unseasonal high temperatures rendered the stages unusable and forced the scheduled opening round of the 2016 FIA European Rally Championship to be postponed.



But for the fans hoping for their fix of winter rallying ERC style, here are 10 of the best moments over the years and don’t forget to click here to watch the highlights video.



1:Ketomaa defeats Breen first time outThe story of the first running of Rally Liepāja in 2013 was a fantastic duel for the win between Jari Ketomaa and Craig Breen. The Irishman won the first five stages, before Finn Ketomaa then took control.



2:Delecour hangs onFrench favourite Francois Delecour completed the podium in 2013 despite an off-road moment through a field, and having to drive parts of one stage one-handed while he held his door shut!



3: Ski slopeFor the inaugural event, organisers created a superspecial stage around an artificial ski slope in Ventspils. The 3.4-kilometre stage was run at the end of leg two and then again to conclude the rally in style a day later.



4:Lefebvre’s international bowIt was on the first Rally Liepāja when Stéphane Lefebvre embarked on his maiden campaign in international rallying with the Peugeot Rally Academy. On his first time on snow, the 2014 ERC Junior champion led the 2WD category until gearbox issues dropped him to second.



5:Lappi makes a winning startAlready regarded as a future star and with a maiden ERC win under his belt from the end of the previous season, Esapekka Lappi opened his 2014 title-winning campaign with victory on Rally Liepāja in his ŠKODA.



6: Gryazin stars in the snowLappi was made to work hard for his 2014 win by surprise package Vasily Gryazin. Then driving a Ford Fiesta S2000, Gryazin took the lead after Bryan Bouffier hit trouble on stage two and Lappi only wrested it from him for good on the final morning.



7:ERC Junior kicks offThe second running of Rally Liepāja in 2014 was the first ever event for the ERC Junior Championship. Jan Černý claimed the class honours on that occasion in a Peugeot 208 VTi R2 ahead of Finnish Citroën C2 R2 driver Risto Immonen.



8:Lukyanuk: Out of luck but quickAlexey Lukyanuk first came to prominence when he battled with Delecour on the first Rally Liepāja in 2013, and in 2015 he was at it again when he won the opening stage. He then rolled on the next test, but won five out of six stages when he restarted on Sunday.



9: Breen gets his winSecond in 2013 and third a year later, Rally Liepāja hadn’t always been kind to Craig Breen but once Lukyanuk fell by the wayside in 2015, he took charge and set up a run of three straight ERC wins.



10: Bergkvist arrives with a bangSuper Swede Emil Bergkvist made his international debut on the 2015 event and won the ERC Junior class first time out after running inside the overall top 10 throughout. It was the first of three wins he scored on his way to the title.