This year “Rokiškio Grand Rally” will mark an important anniversary – the competition will be held for the tenth time. During this period event has grown from a regional rally to one of the most important automobile sports events in Lithuania. Having started its history as the “Samsonas Rally Rokiškis” later becoming the “CBet Rally Rokiškis”, it is now known as “Rokiškio Grand Rally” and is not only an event of the Lithuanian Rally Championship, but is also the only rally in the country with the status of the FIA European Rally Trophy.
This year the anniversary event will take place on 13-15 of August. Over three days crews will overcome 17 Special Stages, the total length of which is 134 kilometers. The entire route will be 543 kilometers, and the competitors will be able to compete on both gravel and tarmac surfaces.
In addition to the Lithuanian Rally Championship and the Lithuanian Rally4 Trophy, Rokiškis will host an events of the FIA European Rally Trophy and Tour European Rally (TER) championship. This means that not only Lithuanian but also foreign teams are capable of winning and competing in important international events.
According to the organiser of the event Audrius Gimžauskas such growth was not accidental. This is the result of a long-term vision that has been consistently implemented, and the ultimate goal is ambitious – to bring a round of the European Rally Championship to Lithuania.
“Our total experience in organising rallies is of seventeen years and we have been doing it in Rokiškis for ten years. I can say that we have grown an even thicker skin. We are striving for more, dreaming and striving to make this rally even better and more qualitative every year. Others are also following in our footsteps, which means that we are doing everything well,” said Audrius Gimžauskas.
According to him, over the decade the organising team has accumulated invaluable experience and learned to work as a unified mechanism. However, in order to achieve an even higher level, experience alone is no longer enough – it is necessary to expand the team and meet the stricter requirements of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
“I think that over the years we have learned order, to know each other in the team from a half-word. Of course, if we were to fulfill our dream of organizing a round of the European Rally Championship, which is our goal, the teams would need expand, because now there are really few of us who organises this rally. We have two years left until the European Rally Championship – we will see what result we manage to achieve this year, and if everything goes well, next year we will already have the status of a candidate competition for the European Rally Championship,” said the organiser.
A. Gimžauskas emphasizes that the current status of the European Rally Trophy was achieved only after many years of work and constant improvement of the event. The organisers were evaluated internationally, and efforts to do everything as well as possible bore fruit.
“We have come a long way to our current status and have certainly shown good results that were noticed. By the way, our requirements are the only ones in Lithuania that have a high status. No one in Lithuania has ever organised a European Rally Trohpy event before. The tasks set are very difficult to fulfill. Of course, some of the requirements are very high, but we are dealing with them and we aim to implement those formalities and do it not only on time, but also well,” said Audrius Gimžauskas.
This year, the organisers will have to take care of not only an impressive sporting spectacle, but also all the organizational requirements for the FIA European Rally Trophy event. The competition will be held in accordance with the FIA Regional Rally Sporting Regulations, and their organisation will be supervised by international FIA Delegate and Stewards.
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the “Rokiškio Grand Rally” is not only an opportunity for the organisers to look back on the path taken, but also an important step towards achieving an even more ambitious goal. If the plans go well, next year rally in Rokiškis could become a candidate for the European Rally Championship, and a year later it could come closer to becoming a historic event for Lithuanian motorsports.
