July 27-29 the Lithuanian Rally Championship will move to the Rokiškis and Zarasai region. Fourth event of the season “CBet Rally Rokiškis” will take place here. This year Organisers of competition have once again decided not to spare the sports kilometres. But there have never been such a number of unique Special Stages before.
Rally is held in Rokiškis for the seventh year in a row. Previously event was known under the name “Samsonas Rally Rokiškis”, but since last year a brand “CBet” has become a nominal partner of rally. This year “CBet Rally Rokiškis” competition will once again feature an extremely large number of kilometers, which is one and a half times greater than the standard distance of a Lithuanian rally. As many as 142 kilometers will await the crews. But that’s not the main message.
Audrius Gimžauskas, the organiser of the competition, says that the desire to surprise both participants and spectators every year has been converted into the number of Special Stages this year. After a long search, 17 Special Stages were found in the region, and even 15 of them will be run only once.
“We always try to distinguish ourselves from the others with something, e.g. we prepare jumps. Now we decided to do something that has never been done before – 15 unique Special Stages. Only two of them will be run twice. We had to look for roads suitable for high-speed sections, we even took a corner in the Zarasai district. However, even there we found sections that were not even used during the “300 Lakes Rally” competition. We are very happy to be supported by local government and the elders, because for example, a culvert had to be installed in one Special Stage in Rokiškis district so that the road would not become impassable in rainy weather conditions. So we took just did it. So, the rally will come here for three days and end, and repaired road will remain for the people,” said Audrius Gimžauskas.
According to the organiser of “CBet Rally Rokiškis”, such a number of unique Special Stages require even greater human resources. One of the biggest challenges is the number of security people and track maintenance personnel, as well as the number of working medical teams and their strategic deployment.
Audrius Gimžauskas added that although the large number of unique Special Stages will be a challenge for the organisers, the participants should be satisfied with this decision. This is especially relevant for the crews of the Lithuanian automobile rally sprint championship, who sometimes encounter very poor surface of Special Stages during competitions.
“We tried to ensure good conditions not only for the participants of the A League, but also for rally sprint championship. Such a number of Special Stages will certainly avoid large ruts. For us as organizers, such a number of Special Stages is a really big challenge in terms of organisation, but what sets us apart is that we love innovations and we are not afraid to set high goals for ourselves. We will need more people for security, we will start preparing Special Stages not starting from Tuesday, but from Monday. We have prepared our forces, that’s why we are calm”, said Audrius Gimžauskas.
By the way, the organisers are also preparing detailed descriptions of the Special Stages, which will be included in the rally magazine. Only this competition has such a publication in the entire rally championship. It will be available together with the rally pass or separately. Detailed information about the specifics of Special Stages will not be published anywhere else.
Another distinctive feature of “CBet Rally Rokiškis” this year is the organisers’ focus on sustainability and waste sorting. This can be seen in the service area, where a special parking lot is planned.
“We will have two sustainable waste points in the service area. We signed an agreement with the Association of Automakers and Importers (AGIA). They will bring special containers for paper, oil, filters. All mechanics will be able to properly dispose of all waste generated during or after the competition,” said Audrius Gimžauskas.
More information about the “CBet Rally Rokiskis” competition taking place on July 27-29 in Rokiškis and Zarasai region can be found on the organisers’ page www.rallyrokiskis.com or on the organisers’ Facebook.
