Reinis Nitišs
| Reinis Nitišs | |
|---|---|
|
Reinis Nitišs in 2015 | |
| Nationality |
 Latvian |
| Born |
16 December 1995 Jēkabpils, Latvia |
| FIA World Rallycross Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2014 |
| Current team | Olsbergs MSE |
| Car no. | 15 |
| Former teams | Münnich Motorsport |
| Starts | 36 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 7 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2014 |
| Finished last season | 16th in 2016 |
| FIA European Rallycross Championship | |
| Years active | 2012–2013 |
| Former teams |
SET Promotion SKN Sports |
| Starts | 14 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 8 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2013 (Super 1600) |
| Championship titles | |
| 2013 2012 2011 2011 2009 2009 |
European Rallycross Championship (S1600) NEZ Rallycross Championship Estonian Rallycross Championship Baltic Rallycross Championship Latvian Karting Championship Baltic Karting Championship |
| Last updated on: 2016-07-07. | |
Reinis Nitišs (born 16 December 1995) is a rallycross driver from Jēkabpils, Latvia. He is the winner of the Super1600 division in the European Rallycross Championship in 2013 and is the youngest event winner in FIA World Rallycross Championship history.
Biography
Early career
Nitišs started racing go-karts at the age of seven, and was quickly successful having won multiple Latvian national titles and the Baltic series by 13. He moved into rallycross and dominated the Baltic and NEZ championships before moving into the European Super1600 category in 2012. The 2013 season brought about a very successful period in which he won 6 out of 9 events on his way to the title.[1]
World Rallycross
In 2014 he debuted in the FIA World Rallycross Championship Supercar category, driving a Ford Fiesta for Olsbergs MSE (OMSE) alongside Andreas Bakkerud.[2] His career started promisingly, with a semi-final win and ultimately a podium finish in his first race, followed by qualification for the final in his second - which he later failed to take part in due to engine failure. His third event in Norway brought his first and so far only win in World Rallycross. A further three podiums and points finishes in every round cemented third place in the standings at seasons' end behind Petter Solberg and Toomas Heikkinen.
Despite staying with OMSE, 2015 was a much tougher year for Nitišs - the highlights being second in Hockenheim and third in Belgium. He failed to qualify for the semi-finals twice and despite once again finishing every round in the points he finished seventh in the standings compared to Bakkerud in fourth with over two events worth of points in hand.
For 2016, Nitišs switched to German outfit Münnich Motorsport and their brand new SEAT Ibiza Supercar.[3] The first half of the season was challenging for him, with the new car's unreliability restricting him to two semi-final appearances. Following the initial struggle, Nitišs ultimately quit the team effective after the French round, despite reaching the final there.[4] He returned to OMSE for three of the final four rounds, skipping Germany to allow OMSE to give RX Lites title winner Cyril Raymond a run in a Supercar.[5]
Racing record
Complete FIA North European Zone (NEZ) Rallycross Championship results
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NEZ-1600[6]
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SKN Sports | Peugeot 206 | DEN 2 |
NOR 1 |
LTU1 1 |
LTU2 4 |
1st | 70 |
Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results
Super1600
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ERX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SKN Sports | Peugeot 206 | GBR |
FRA |
AUT |
HUN |
NOR |
SWE 16 |
BEL 16 |
NED 14 |
FIN 12 |
GER 15 |
23rd | 11 |
| 2013 | SET Promotion | Renault Clio | GBR 6 |
POR 4 |
HUN 1 |
FIN 1 |
NOR 1 |
SWE 2 |
FRA 1 |
AUT 1 |
GER 1 |
1st | 227 |
Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results
Supercar
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WRX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Olsbergs MSE | Ford Fiesta ST | POR 3 |
GBR 7 |
NOR 1 |
FIN 3 |
SWE 4 |
BEL 12 |
CAN 4 |
FRA 2 |
GER 16 |
ITA 11 |
TUR 7 |
ARG 2 |
3rd | 210 | |
| 2015 | Olsbergs MSE | Ford Fiesta ST | POR 11 |
HOC 2 |
BEL 3 |
GBR 5 |
GER 7 |
SWE 5 |
CAN 9 |
NOR 7 |
FRA 16 |
BAR 9 |
TUR 7 |
ITA 9 |
ARG 14 |
7th | 167 |
| 2016 | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | SEAT Ibiza | POR 15 |
HOC 13 |
BEL 12 |
GBR 21 |
NOR 12 |
SWE 18 |
CAN 13 |
FRA 5 |
16th | 44 | |||||
| Olsbergs MSE | Ford Fiesta ST | BAR 13 |
LAT 11 |
GER |
ARG 10 |
Complete Global RallyCross Championship results
GRC Lites
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | GRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Olsbergs MSE | Lites Ford Fiesta | BRA |
MUN1 |
MUN2 |
LOU |
BRI |
IRW 5 |
ATL 6 |
CHA |
LV |
10th | 23 |
Records
- Youngest winner in World Rallycross Supercars, at 18 years and 6 months.
- First WRX event winner from outside Scandinavia.
- First WRX event winner from the Baltic states.
References
- ↑ http://www.setpromotion.com/www/setracing/rallycross.php?c=news&n_id=253
- ↑ http://www.omse.se/?p=413
- ↑ http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9101/nitiss-moves-to-all-inklcom-racing
- ↑ http://reinisnitiss.com/en/jaunumi/reinis-nitiss-inkl-com-munnich-motorsport-part-company-loheac-rx-2/
- ↑ http://www.reinisnitiss.com/en/jaunumi/reinis-nitiss-join-olsbergs-mse-barcelona-rx/
- ↑ http://rallycross.com/standings/12/nez_2012/nez_12_1600.html
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reinis Nitišs. |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andreas Bakkerud |
European Rallycross Super1600 Champion 2013 |
Succeeded by Sergey Zagumennov |
- Official website
- Reinis Nitišs on Twitter
- Reinis Nitišs on Instagram
- Official profile page at the World RX website