“Rokiškio Grand Rally” week is gathering momentum – on Wednesday evening, the event’s administrative scruteering commission began its work in Rokiškis. Here, a portion of the arriving crews completed their first mandatory formalities, and the commission resumed its work on Thursday morning. It is with this precise procedure that the rally weekend officially begins for the participants.
The administrative commission is the first formal step that “Rokiškio Grand Rally” participants must complete before the competition. During this process, crew documents are verified, and other necessary pre-start procedures are carried out.
Upon successfully completing the administrative commission formalities, the participants collect their starting packages. These contain stickers for the race cars, roadbooks, and the GPS equipment that will be used during the competition.
The process that started on Wednesday evening continued on Thursday morning, as the remaining “Rokiškio Grand Rally” participants gathered for administrative checks. After completing the formalities and receiving their roadbooks, the crews can now move on to one of the most critical stages of pre-race preparation – reconnaissance of the special stages.
On Thursday, the athletes head out into the Rokiškis region, where, following the established regulations, they drive through the upcoming special stages and write their pace notes. These notes record corners, jumps, distances, and other track characteristics. The crews will rely heavily on this information later when they tackle the same roads at competitive rally speeds.
While the drivers and co-drivers conduct reconnaissance and prepare their pace notes on Thursday, their team mechanics will also have plenty of work. In the afternoon, they will need to present the race cars for technical scrutineering.
Participants in this year’s “Rokiškio Grand Rally” face 17 special stages, covering a total of 134 competitive kilometers. A total of 57 crews will battle for results on the gravel roads around Rokiškis.