Marty Sesks, the Latvian World Rally Championship (WRC) star, has made a surprising move into the world of rally-raid. He will drive the Viking Challenger, a lightweight T3-class prototype developed and built by Latvian motorsport company Sports Racing Technologies (SRT). This bold career shift marks a radical departure from his traditional rallying roots.
For Marty Sesks, the challenge is both new and exciting. "This will be a completely new experience for me and a great challenge, and I’m really looking forward to making my debut. Rally-raid requires a completely different approach and strategy compared to traditional rallying," he said. He explained that in traditional rallying, he and his co-driver, Renars Francis, spend a great deal of time perfecting pace notes and pushing as hard as possible. In rally-raid, however, the route remains unknown until the competition begins, and they tackle it using a prepared roadbook.
Sesks emphasized that the co-driver also acts as a navigator, reading the terrain and giving precise instructions. For this adventure, he will be joined by Didzis Zarins. "His experience will be invaluable. My goal is to learn as much as possible about the discipline," Sesks said. He also acknowledged that a single navigation mistake can result in a huge time loss, and with special stages lasting several hours, the focus shifts to risk analysis, preserving the car, and managing energy. "That will be very different from what I’m used to in traditional rallying," he added.
SRT boss Girts Kruzmanis expressed pride in seeing a Latvian driver and co-driver behind the wheel of a Latvian-built car. "The Viking Challenger has been designed with one goal in mind: to win rally-raid events. The ultimate ambition is victory in the Dakar Rally," he stated. Before embracing this new discipline, Sesks will still compete in the WRC at Rally Sardinia in early October.
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