A number of “N5” and “N5+” cars representing LARČ5 and LARČ1 classes will meet again at the third stage of the Lithuanian rally championship “7 Bet Gravel Fest Rally Lazdijai”. Although all crews are gathered under the common flag “N5 Lithuania”, everyone is preparing individually for the return to the southern region of Lithuania, solving various puzzles before the rally. However, these puzzles are easier to solve when there are many like-minded people around, who will not only share their experiences and pushes you to the limits on the stages. For many, the special stages of the “7 Bet Gravel Fest Rally Lazdijai” will be a new experience, allowing N5 and N5+ classmates to measure their actual speed against each other and others, minimizing the knowledge factor of the special stages.
The leaders of the championship, Martynas Samsonas and Ervinas Snitkas, have set up such a speed gage that, like a red rag for bulls, attracts competitors both in class and overall. With Martynas listening very carefully to what his co-driver Ervinas dictates to him in the Škoda Fabia N5+, we can expect another stunning performance on new special stages Martynas emphasizes that:
“The great thing is that the special stages are either unknown or minimally known, but it is unwise to talk too much. I hope above all for a quality reece and then you can already step on the gas pedal.
I think the organization also promises to be of the highest caliber. Ronaldas and I have known each other for probably 23 years, if not more, since the autocross days. As far as I can tell, we have not changed much on the outside, but we have gotten nicer on the inside. It’s great to see such people coming to the Lithuanian rally kitchen who love rallying and enrich our sport.”
Martynas Samsonas
As the “7 Bet Gravel Fest Rally Lazdijai” approaches, LARČ1 and N5+ representative Eugenijus Sladkevičius are mainly working in the garage. Elektrėniškis has a trump card – he participated in this rally last year when it still had rally sprint status.
“”The preparations are taking place even more with the car, because we still had too much weight, too high temperature, it’s up to us.
I have driven a few rally sprint stages in the Lazdijai region, so I think that the special stages will be familiar to me, even if I am not the one who can describe them after driving through the stage twice. I think it will be a good rally, similar to the one in the Žemaitija region, which should be fun.”
Eugenijus Sladkevičius
The first two events of the season went differently for Linas Vaškys – on the first one he finished fourth, and on the second one he could only score 4 points in the LARČ1 ranking, because Linas went to the special stages only on the second day of the rally. Due to the failure of the last event, Linas lost the second place in the LARČ1 standings and is 18 points behind Eugenijus Sladkevičius.
The start at “7 Bet Gravel Fest Rally Lazdijai” event is very important and symbolic for the crew of Vilmantas Padegimas and Edvardas Gurevičius, who will compete with “Renault Clio N5”. Both Vilmantas and Edvardas are from this region, so for them it is a home rally in front of their own audience. Well, the appearance of the local crew was threatened, but the circumstances favorable to the rally arranged everything so that the local spectators had something to support wholeheartedly during the competition.
You can say that the home rally is getting closer. I call all my friends and acquaintances to come and see, because for the first time drivers of this level will come to drive in our region The preparation is nothing special, after inspecting the “Renault Clio N5” after the Rally Žemaitija, everything is fine. I think that the special stages will be a little easier than in Žemaitija, it will be easier to write them down and the confidence will definitely be greater. We will see how it will be. With co-driver Edwardas vacation, it came out the way we both wanted it to. Due to the NATO Congress in Lithuania, his flight was postponed from July 1 to July 2, so a real local crew will start at the Rally, which makes us very happy.
Vilmantas Padegimas
The other three crews focused their attention not on the cars, but on the space between the steering wheel and the seat in the car. Cars can be fast on any stage in Lithuania, but driving them fast on unfamiliar roads is a real test of the drivers’ and co-drivers’ skills. Nedas Radišauskas, who is now on the other side of the world, will try to overtake the main competitor in the class – Rokas Steponavičius – with another maximalist, Justus Vičiūnas, and the “VW Polo N5”.
“I am really looking forward to the Lazdijai Rally, but the preparation is only in my head, because after the “Rally Žemaitija” I left for the USA and the ticket home is only on June 27. As a rally rookie, all special stages are practically new for me, so I can only be glad that this time they are not just for me. Both Justas Vičiūnas and I are maximalists, so I will not hide it – the goal is first place in class. To achieve that, of course, you have to overcome very fast classmates and hundreds of dusty corners
Nedas Radišauskas
Even for Nedas fiercest competitor – Rokas Steponavičius – the preparation for the event in Lazdijai is not easy. In addition to the rally, circuit races and the upcoming “1006 km” race are also on the schedule, so the GSR Motorsport team has to jump between many projects and cars. We can only hope that the concentration will be only on the stages of Lazdijai next weekend.
World class coach Kristian Sohlberg will return to Lithuania and Tomas Šmagarys’ neighborhood in a car. In winter Tomas, Valdas and Kritian had a training session in Finland. This time Kristian is back in time for the warm season to work with the Hyundai i20 N5 crew this week, and will sit next to Tomas during the race. It will be interesting to see what benefits the joint work with K. Sohlberg will bring.
Paulius Beniušis with Kristupas Adinavičius and the Citroen C3 N5 car will try to be as close as possible to the above mentioned in the results of the “7 Bet Gravel Fest Rally Lazdijai” special stages.
“We do not do anything different before the Lazdijai rally than usual. Darius Biesevičius prepares the equipment and makes sure there is no failures. I like new special stages, they are a new challenge. Also, new stages even the odds for the athletes. The goals are still elusive. The most important thing is to finish the rally without technical problems and to collect more sport kilometers. Also, our goal is to get as close as possible to the leaders and match their pace.”
Paulius Beniušis
The crew of Aurimas Eidžiūnas and Justas Barysas, whose Ford Fiesta N5 is decorated with the colors of the main event partner “7 Bet”, has the same goals – to get closer to the main competitors.
“The guys work in the garage, tighten the bolts, it was necessary to change the clutch plates and other niceties. Since we prepared the car well before the Kelmė rally, now only small things are missing, such as the rear bumper, because we damaged the old one in Kelmė. However, we spend most of our time analyzing how to find the seconds here and get closer to our classmates. We are working on pacenotes and training the muscles in my right leg so I can keep the throttle at 100% for longer.”
Aurimas Eidžiūnas
The rally begins June 30 with four special stages covering a distance of 29 kilometers. Saturday, July 1. – 72 kilometers and eight stages more.
LARČ1 standings
LARČ5 standings
| Nr. | Driver | Co-Driver | Car | Team | Class | |||
| 1. |  | Martynas Samsonas | | Ervinas Snitkas |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 |
| 7. | | Rokas Steponavičius | | Dovydas Ketvirtis |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | GSR Motorsport | LARČ5 |
| 8. | | Nedas Radišauskas | | Justas Vičiūnas |  | VW Polo N5 | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ5 |
| 10. | | Linas Vaškys | | Laurynas Paškevičius | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | LARČ1 |
| 11. | | Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 |
| 15. | | Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ST-SPORT | LARČ5 |
| 16. | | Tomas Šmagarys |  | Kristian Sohlberg |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | Autoralis | LARČ5 |
| 23. | | Aurimas Eidžiūnas | | Justas Barysas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 |
| 24. | | Vilmantas Padegimas | | Edvardas Gurevičius |  | Renault Clio N5 | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ5 |