“I think the crucial stage will be SS9 – Sarcene. It's over 34Km in length and combines tight and twisty sections with very fast, flowing open sections. The mid-part is fast with a little technical part at the beginning but much more at the end. It's going to be hard work, arriving there already having done 30Km and having to work very hard to the end of the stage. Also, everything will be extremely hot by that point – Me, Gemma, the tyres, dampers and brakes and that will make things even tougher.
“I think the key will be to find the right pace for me and for the car and then maintain that over the duration of the whole event, not just a single stage. I need to be able to get to the end of every stage with a little in reserve, rather than hanging on by my fingernails. The objective this weekend has to be to finish the event and then, we will see how competitive we are at the end.”
The event itself begins on the afternoon of Saturday 17 May with a pair of traditional gravel stages. The first day ends with a double run of the asphalt Talsi town centre stage, which last year brought rally fans and residents alike out in droves.
The action resumes on the morning of Sunday 18 May with six more stages, including the penultimate, the 34Km Sarcene test, before a run around a superspecial stage close to the rally base in Talsi itself. The competitors reach the final podium at 18.00 hours local-time.
![Tom Cave in action on the 2008 Rally Kekava. [Pic credit: Arturs Tinte, www.lifemirror.lv]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/436708.jpg)
