The fourth event of the Lithuanian Rally Championship will take place in the Rokiškis area on August 7-9. It is expected to attract almost a hundred participants from Lithuania and abroad. Last year’s Lithuanian Rally Kings – Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydas Paliukėnas – will also start here. However, it is not yet known which model the guys will drive. This is what is causing the greatest intrigue.
Although registration for the “Rokiškio Grand Rally” has been going on for about two weeks now, Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydas Paliukėnas submitted their application almost in the last few days. The duo doubted whether they would participate in this competition. As Vladas Jurkevičius said, the crew will start in Rokiškis in any case. It is just that the tandem does not yet know what car they will arrive in for the biggest summer rally fiesta. That is why the application was delayed. Interestingly, even after submitting the application, the crew still does not have an answer as to what equipment they will drive on the gravel roads of Rokiškis.
Even before the rally in Ukmergė, Vladas Jurkevičius said that this year he wants to try out the new Škoda Fabia R5 model, similar to the one that Vaidotas Žala races in. Also in the sights of last year’s champion is another fast car – the Toyota GR Yaris R5. Vladas Jurkevičius says that he already wanted to implement this plan in the previous event, but at that time the “SRT” team, which serves the athlete, could not offer either model for rent.
Now, it seems that both models are available and Vladas Jurkevičius will be able to choose which one to come to Rokiškis with. The athlete assures that he will not make a blind decision anyway and will want to try both cars before the important, longest and most difficult event of the Lithuanian rally “Rokiškio Grand Rally”. He will choose the one that sticks to his hand more.
“It seems that we will get another car. We will not buy it, but we will rent it from “SRT”. We do not really have an answer yet what model it will be. It will be either a “Toyota” or a new “Škoda RS”. Next week we will have tests and we will try both cars. If we do not like either car, we will race with our old one. But most likely, we will race with some new model. We still want to try something new. Since it is practically impossible to win the championship this year, because Vaidotas Žala is racing very fast, we will use the remaining stages as if for tests. Depending on which car we like better during the remaining stages of the season, and we will try both, we will start next year’s season with that.
The need to change the car arose naturally. Our current Škoda is from 2021. Over the years, not only have new models been released, but our Škoda is essentially the same as the very first one, released around 2015. Over those ten years, I think things have moved forward quite a bit. Of course, the speed differences between the current Škoda and the new one, or even the Yaris, are not big. Everything is always more determined by the speed of the crew itself, but we want to drive the most advanced technology. We see that we are not so far behind Vaidotas Žala in those seconds, so if we can compete with him with new technology, why not use that technology? Because those last seconds or parts of them can really be determined by the differences in the cars, so we will try that and see how we do.
I think that whether it will be a “Škoda” or a “Toyota” – there is no difference. Maybe a “Yaris” is a little more interesting, because no one in Lithuania has driven one. But here it is just that it is more interesting. In reality, we will decide based on our feelings, in which car we have more comfort. But I really want to test one model in one rally, and another in the next. And then we will make a decision for the next season. And in what order we will test those cars in the rally – there is no difference to me,” said Vladas Jurkevičius.
Vladas Jurkevičius says that the “Rokiškio Grand Rally” competition is one of the most interesting for him in the entire season. Here, participants will face many kilometers and complex, even treacherous speed sections. By the way, in the past, Vladas Jurkevičius has experienced painful incidents in this competition that ended in hospital.
“I really like the Rokiškis rally, because I generally like long rallies. There are many speed sections here, some of which are not even repeated, which poses additional challenges to pass the section as quickly as possible. I have also had two major accidents here. Back with the “R2” Peugeot, Aisvydas and I had a very painful accident when we went into the trees on a fast right turn. After that, in 2023, we went into a culvert with the “Škoda”. It also hurt a lot there, we suffered injuries. I like this rally, but it is also dangerous. Many kilometers, many sections, many treacherous places. This is probably one of the most difficult rallies in the Lithuanian championship,” shared Vladas Jurkevičius.
“Rokiškio Grand Rally” will take place on August 7-9. More information about the upcoming competition can be found on the organizers’ Facebook account and the rally website.