Reinis Nitišs (born 16 December 1995) is a rallycross driver from

Jēkabpils Jēkabpils (; german: Jakobstadt; pl, Jakubów) is a state city in Jēkabpils Municipality in southeastern Latvia roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils and spanning the Daugava River. Historic Jēkabpils lies on the left bank, in Seloni ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. 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 The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

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.

World Rallycross

;Olsbergs MSE (2014–15) In 2014 he debuted in the

Supercar category, driving a

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

for

Olsbergs MSE Olsbergs MSE, which also competes under the title OMSE, is an auto racing team founded by Swedish former rally champion Andréas Eriksson as Motorsport Evolution (MSE) in 2005. In 2008 it ran under the name ''Ford Team RS Europe'', while in 2009 ...

(OMSE) alongside

Andreas Bakkerud Andreas Bakkerud (born 10 October 1991) is a rallycross driver from Bergen, Norway. He has competed in the FIA Rallycross Supercar class since 2013 in both Euro RX and World RX, and Nitro Rallycross since 2021. He became European Champion in 20 ...

. 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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

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 Petter Solberg (born 18 November 1974) is a Norwegian former professional rallying, rally and rallycross driver. Solberg debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford World Rally Team, Ford factory team in 1999. The ...

and

Toomas Heikkinen Toomas "Topi" Heikkinen (born 27 March 1991) is a rallycross and ice-racing driver from Finland. He won the Finnish Rallycross Championship in 2010 and the Global Rallycross Championship in 2013. He currently competes in the FIA World Rallycro ...

. Despite staying with OMSE, 2015 was a much tougher year for Nitišs - the highlights being second in

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz ...

and third in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. 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. ;Münnich Motorsport (2016) For 2016, Nitišs switched to German outfit

Münnich Motorsport Münnich Motorsport GmbH, which also competes under the title All-Inkl.com Racing, is an auto racing team founded by German racing driver and entrepreneur René Münnich in 2006. The team has been built around three areas of motorsport since it ...

and their brand new

SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Span ...

Supercar. 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. ;Return to Olsbergs MSE (2016) He returned to OMSE for three of the final four rounds, skipping

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

to allow the team to give RX Lites title winner

Cyril Raymond Cyril William North Raymond MBE (13 February 1899 – 20 March 1973) was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s. His many stage, film and televi ...

a run in a Supercar. He made the semi-finals twice, at his inaugural home round in

as well as

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. ;Audi Sport EKS RX (2017) On 20 February 2017, it was announced that Nitišs would move to reigning champions Audi Sport EKS RX for the 2017 season. The move will see the Latvian driving a third car which, under the current rules, is ineligible to score teams' championship points.

Racing record

Complete FIA North European Zone (NEZ) Rallycross Championship results

( key)

NEZ-1600

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results

( key)

Super1600

Supercar

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

( key)

Supercar

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

( key)

GRC Lites

Records

* Youngest winner in World Rallycross Supercars, at 18 years and 6 months. * First WRX event winner from outside

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. * First WRX event winner from the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

References

External links

* * *
Official profile page at the World RX website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitiss, Reinis 1995 births Living people Latvian racing drivers European Rallycross Championship drivers World Rallycross Championship drivers People from Jēkabpils 24H Series drivers