The fourth event of the Lithuanian automobile rally championship “CBet Rally Rokiškis” started on Friday in Rokiškis. On the first day of the competition, five Special Stages and a distance of 50 km awaited the competitors. Friday is marked by spectacular jumps over the crests. However, for some crews jumps did not end according to plan – the weapons had to be put away due to damage to the cars.
On the first day of the rally, the participants of “CBet Rally Rokiškis” had two Special Stages driven twice each. Finally, after them, a city Special Stage was organised, which stretched through the streets of Rokiškis town. Rokas Steponavičius and Dovydus Ketvirtis won the two Special Stages of the day – the first and the fifth.
The duet of Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydas Paliukėnas was also twice the fastest. They recorded their best result in the longest Special Stage of 18 km, which was run twice. Giedrius Notkus and Dalius Strižanas were the fastest once. They won the third Special Stage.
After the first day of the rally and five Special Stages, Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydus Paliukėnas took the lead. They gained 23 seconds over 50 km. advantage over Giedrius Notkus with Dalius Strižanas who keep 2 seconds behind crew of Rokas Steponavičius with Dovydus Ketvirtis.
Until the city Special Stage, the name of Polish sportsman Jakub Matulka was also in the top three, but he made a mistake in the last stage of the first day, lost time and is currently classified in fourth place.
On the first day of the rally, 15 crews withdrew from the competition. All of them encountered technical problems. Several crews damaged their cars after unsuccessful jumps over the crest in stages one to three. However, these competitors will be able to return to the race on Saturday according to the “Super Rally” rule. In addition, participants of the Lithuanian automobile rally championship will be joined by the crews of rally sprint championship, who didn’t compete on Friday.
Saturday is the main race day of “CBet Rally Rokiškis”. During the day crews will have to cover another 90 kilometers, divided into 10 Special Stages. The competition will again be crowned by the city’s Special Stage and the gala award ceremony and the concert of the band “8 Kambarys” are scheduled at Rokiškis Manor.
More information about the “CBet Rally Rokiškis” competition can be found on the organisers’ page and on Facebook.
