There has been so much going on lately that it seems like the Lithuanian Rally Championship has already started, even though it’s only mid-May. Last year we did not see the first stage of the LARČ in Lithuania until July. This year, since the season opened in the first half of May, we can say that the ugly period of late winter/early spring was shortened to the maximum. Also maximum was the number of members of the N5 family on the first stage of the LARČ. All ten cars arrived in Mažeikiai, where a new joint page of LARČ and N5 was opened. All the more powerful Škoda Fabia N5+ were assigned to the most powerful class – LARČ1, while the standard N5s were grouped in the LARČ5 monoclass.
The action started on the evening of May twelfth, which was a special day for the co-driver of Vilmantas Padegimas – Edvardas Gurevičius, as he celebrated his birthday on that day. The participants were waiting for an eight and a half kilometer special stage, which was to be run twice. However, the planned schedule was interrupted by the dust kicked up by the parched roads like in some southern European countries, and the wind took a break that evening, as if on purpose. In the middle of the channel of the first passage, the competition was stopped and it was decided to increase the distances between the participants in the second run to two minutes. This system worked, and finally a wind provided some help. However, the results of the first stage were considerably tarnished for many competitors. Martynas Samsonas, who started the race with the Škoda Fabia N5+ with the first starting number, had the most luck – he built up a lead of 16 seconds during the first sixteen kilometers. Tomas Šmagarys, Eugenijus Sladkevičius, Vilmantas Padegimas, Rokas Steponavičius and Aurimas Eidžiūnas were particularly affected by the dust.
On Saturday, the dust did not clear, but the situation has already improved. The tone set by Martynas Samsonas and Ervinas Snitkas on Friday continued almost the whole second day of the rally. Of the fourteen stages, the man from Utena won ten stages with the Škoda Fabia N5+. From the first stage, Martynas did not let himself be taken away from the first place, extended his lead to 38 seconds on the Saturday kilometers and climbed back to the top step of the winners’ podium after a two-week break. And that despite the fact that he had to ride 5 kilometers with a flat tire.
The other two representatives of the N5+ (LARČ1) had different fate. Linas Vaškys and Laurynas Paškevičius held on to fourth place from the first to the last kilometer with a constant driving. While the top three had pulled away at the front, Linas kept his position at a safe distance from both the other competitors and his N5 teammates. Another Škoda Fabia N5+ with Eugenijus Sladkevičius and Marius Kairys was aiming that 4th place. However, the lost two minutes in the final stage threw Eugenijus back to thirteenth place.
As many as seven cars started in the N5 class (LARČ5). In this class there was an uncompromising fight – after five stages the first five were within thirteen seconds. Two Ford Fiesta N5 of Rokas Steponavičius and Ramūnas Čapkauskas – fought for the smallest fractions of a second. Nedas Radišauskas kept a minimal distance to them with his VW Polo N5. Unfortunately, the new cars often have technical problems at the beginning of the season. In the same, sixth special stage, the cars of Citroen C3 N5 of Paulius Beniušis and Hyundai i20 N5 of Tomas Šmagarys stopped right next to each other due to technical problems. In the long run, the fight for the victory in the LARČ5 classification changed a bit – Rokas Steponavičius was still leading, but Ramūnas Čapkauskas was no longer main threat. It was Nedas Radišauskas. Fight was over on eleventh stage, where Rokas Steponavičius’ Ford Fiesta N5 Turbine could not withstand the crazy race. In the twelfth stage, Vilmantas Padegimas had to give up fourth place in LARČ5 and 18th overall due to a problem with the fuel pump. As the rally neared its end, it looked like Nedas Radišauskas and Justas Vičiūnas would win the class in commanding fashion, as Ramūnas Čapkauskas and Tomas Šipkauskas were hit with a 20-second penalty by the marshals. Before the final stage, the two leaders of the N5(LARČ5) class were separated by almost forty seconds, but the main spoiler of Friday’s results – dust – returned with a bang. There was no wind on the wooded special stage, and as a result some of the competitors again had significant visibility problems. As a result, after the rally finish, Nedas had only 4.8 seconds left of a lead of almost forty seconds, so it did not take long for a dramatic change to occur. After his victory in class, Nedas finished seventh in overall, and Ramūnas Čapkauskas was eighth overall. Aurimas Eidžiūnas and Justus Barysas finished third in LARČ5 and fourteenth overall.
This was probably the fastest rally in the Lithuanian Rally Championship calendar, crowned by Martynas Samsonas victory and a wonderful fight in the LARČ5 classification. Let us hope that the technical problems that prevented 4 crews from reaching the finish line will be successfully solved and the battles in Žemaitija and other rallies will go to the last millimeter. We will meet again soon at Žemaitija rally in Kelmė 🙂
| Driver | Co-Driver | Car | Team | Class | Time | Overall | Class | |||
 | Martynas Samsonas | | Ervinas Snitkas |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 | 52:30.8 | 1 | 1 |
| Linas Vaškys | | Laurynas Paškevičius | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | LARČ1 | 55:20.5 | 4 | 2 |
| Nedas Radišauskas | | Justas Vičiūnas |  | VW Polo N5 | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ5 | 56:41.9 | 7 | 1 |
| Ramūnas Čapkauskas | | Tomas Šipkauskas |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | LARČ5 | 56:46.7 | 8 | 2 |
| Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 | 57:33.0 | 13 | 3 |
| Aurimas Eidžiūnas | | Justas Barysas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 | 57:36.7 | 14 | 3 |
| Vilmantas Padegimas | | Edvardas Gurevičius |  | Renault Clio N5 | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ5 | Tech. gedimas | – | – |
| Rokas Steponavičius | | Dovydas Ketvirtis | | Ford Fiesta N5 | GSR Motorsport | LARČ5 | Tech. gedimas | – | – |
| Tomas Šmagarys | | Valdas Čiuplys |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | Autoralis | LARČ5 | Tech. gedimas | – | – |
| Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ST-SPORT | LARČ5 | Tech. gedimas | – | – |