The Lithuanian Rally Championship turns into the second half, where legendary rallies await. The first of them is “CBet Rally Rokiškis”, which, as usual for the participants, prepares a much larger number of kilometers, and a significant part of those kilometers are also unique. In addition, this time a qualifying Special Stage will also be held.
This competition often becomes the biggest test for the equipment and the people who manage or service it. Not only that, there are many questions and news in the N5 line-up what we will discuss now.
First of all, we must congratulate the newest members of the N5 team – Rokas Markovičius and Martynas Masaitis, who, having started their rally career only this year, managed to complete 10 events in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Not all of those stages were finished due to the breakdowns of their car, the Subaru Impreza. A couple of weeks ago, the engine that exploded in Mažeikiai became the last straw in the cup of patience, and the crew immediately grabbed the Hyundai i20 N5 previously driven by Tomas Šmagarys, which had just appeared on the market.
“It’s no secret to anyone that we didn’t finish the last two LARC rallies due to Subaru Impreza engine failures – the engine exploded in Lazdijai in the first kilometers of the very first Special Stage, and after it was fixed history repeated in Mažeikiai again.
We are trying and the whole team is really working very hard, but the engine keeps getting stuck, so we are tired of these problems. Then we realized that it was necessary to renew the technique. We consulted a lot with friends and colleagues and they all mentioned that Subaru will be bad in one way or another.
We decided whether to invest in a fully sports engine, change the car itself, or maybe even end the rally career altogether, because it is simply physically impossible to drive like we do now.
After consulting with colleagues, friends, sponsors and most importantly – family, we decided that we need another car. It was the family that supported us the most, supports us and will support us emotionally and root for us no matter what happens to us, so without them we probably wouldn’t have made this decision.
We started looking for what we can find locally, what is available abroad and settled on two options. One of them was a completely new “Rally3″ car in Cyprus, but we received information that the N5 car is sold in Lithuania.
This technique met our requirements and we will start in Rokišky with the Hyundai i20 N5. We hope that this investment will finally bring us the satisfaction of driving a rally car, because so far we have worked more on the car than we have driven it,” said Rokas Markovičius.
And while Rokas and Martynas learn driving N5, the leaders of this class will get into another fight. Still, the composure levels between rivals are as different as night and day. The gap between LARC stages of just two weeks is quite short, especially considering the length and complexity of the Rokiškis rally.
If Giedrius Firantas will just tidy up the VW Polo N5’s cosmetics and do the current work, and Eugenijus Sladkevičius will be happy with Marius Kairys returning to the Škoda Fabia N5+ co-driver’s chair, then these days will be busy for the other two N5 youngsters, to say the least. Both Daividas Gezevičius’ and Irmantas Buivydas’ cars are currently being prepared for the competition, and as the time is ticking very fast until the cars appear in the technical commission, anxiety is growing. So we can only hope that the necessary spare parts will quickly find their way to two Ford Fiesta N5 cars and we will see them on the legendary roads of Rokiškis district.
“The mood is bad at the moment, because it is not yet clear whether we will be able to start in Rokiškis. The car is still disassembled in the garage, we are waiting for all the necessary spare parts. If we manage to compete, it will be without training”, said N5 class leader Irmantas Buivydas.
“The mood is very good, because there are very good stages ahead. However, the picture in the garage is a bit different, because the gearbox and shock absorbers are still being updated at the “Samsonas Motorsport” base, and we are also waiting for a new air filter and power steering tube from Kaunas. The assembly and other works are still waiting, so there will be no shortage of things until the start of the rally,” said Deividas Gezevičius.
“During the last rally, the VW Polo N5 suffered cosmetically mainly, so a lot of time will be spent on reviving the look and no doubt ongoing work such as oil changes, tune-ups. As for the mood, it’s stress-free, we’ll try to drive fast, but whether it’s an absolute 7 or 10 – I don’t care”, Giedrius Firantas shared his thoughts.
“It seems that everything is fine – co-driver Marius is back after a “major repair”. I think that this time the operation was successful and health will not fail, and if it is bad, we have a doctor in the crew, we will treat him. The car seems to be running. There were no problems in Mažeikiai, so we will change what is needed according to the kilometers and I think we will push, although I believe it will not be easy. But we are not looking for easy ways”, claimed Eugenijus Sladkevičius.
Paulius Beniušis with Kristupas Adinavičius and their Citroen C3 N5 should also not be forgotten. It will be an opportunity for them to return to the rhythm that the crew maintained before the “Orlen Lietuva Rally”, and timely scheduled car work will ensure a successful finish for the crew.
“The most difficult rally of the year, for which the most important thing is to be in a good mood. A lot of kilometers, a lot of Special Stages driven onece, which will require a lot and very high concentration, because fatigue will definitely be felt, and the very large number of participants will definitely not allow you to relax.
The car is still on the lift. After the “Orlen Lietuva Rally” a lot of work was planned and the break between rallies was not very long, so this time we will come directly to the rally, without any tests or additional preparation”, said Paulius Beniušis.
“Rally in Rokiškis was my first A-League event in my career, so I have some feelings for him. This year, there will be a lot of speed stages that will be driven once, which means a lot of paperwork and additional preparation during the rally, but this does not scare us and we will travel with a great mood.
We have not planned additional tests before the competition, but since we will start in the TOP20, we will participate in free practice and the qualifying stage. I think this will help to catch the rhythm and get used to the sports pace. The past Mažeikiai rally did not turn out the way we wanted, but it allowed us to drive without tension, it turned out to be a good training before the next rally”, said Kristupas Adinavičius.
