N5 Gang – Paulius Beniušis – N5 Lithuania / Lietuva

We continue our acquaintance with the members of the N5 family, also known as – N5 Gang 🙂

In winter we talked with Tomas Šmagarys, recently Aurimas Eidžiūna, Rokas Steponavičus, and Eugenijus Sladkevičius. Now we are in conversation with the representative of LARČ5 – Paulius Beniušis, who after 12 years break got back into rallying with Mitsubishi and this year decided to join N5 Gang.

How did you get into rallying in the first place? Why was there a 12-year break in your rally career?

Rallying is probably something like a second religion in our family. There was and is no gathering where our extended family gets together and doesn’t talk about this sport. It’s been going on since I was very young, because my father was very involved in the sport and was 100% dedicated to rallying. He lived it, it’s natural that the first acquaintance with motorsport came precisely through him. Then came the go-karts, later dad sat next to me. When I was 15 or 16 years old, I had the opportunity to try myself behind the wheel of a VW Golf. A qualitative leap occurred at the age of 17, when Albertas Germavičius, among others, gave me the opportunity to compete with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8. It was an amazing few years with this car.

Why did you come back? How is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution different from the N5 technology? Did you have to change your driving and pacenotes techniques?

A very long break followed. At a regular meeting with my father, we joked that he should go back and try the new generation of cars again. So it happened that it was not my father who decided to try himself, but he persuaded me to participate in a few competitions with Mario Neikšans’ car. Then everything turned out the way it is now.

Du pastaruosius metus Paulius važiavo su latvių Neikšans aptarnaujamu Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX — *In the last two years Paulius drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, which was serviced by the Latvian Neikšans* *team*

How did you end up in the N5 Gang?

The evolution with the cars was parallel to my development. I wanted to try something new, and at the same time Aurimas and Martynas offered to join the “gang”. I liked the idea very much, and there were no alternatives in the Lithuanian rally, neither in quality nor in quantity. The adaptation to the car was not difficult, I would even say pleasant, because nothing had to be changed – neither the driving style nor the pacenotes, and the car made it possible to discover new possibilities and experiences.

Šįmet į Pauliaus garažą atkeliavo naujut naujutėlis Citroen C3 N5 — *This year a brand new Citroen C3 N5 came into Paulius garage*

How has the current co-driver – Kristupas Adinavičius – appeared in your car?

I did not have many co-drivers, but they were definitely among the best in Lithuania. Both Audrius and Kristupas are very good co-drivers. Audrius has gained a lot of experience in both the Lithuanian and World Rally Championships, which he has also shared with me and Kristupas.

Pastaruosius du sezonus stenogramą Pauliui skaito Kristupas Adinavičius — *In the last two seasons Kristupas Adinavičius has read the pacenotes for Paulius*

There are many different chassis for the N5. Why did you choose the Citroen chassis, which is not very popular in this country?

Of all the cars in the N5 class, the Citroen C3 was the most beautiful to me. As it happens, it was Citroen available at the factory. I think that greater variety is more pleasing to the eye of the rally spectator.

Citroen markės automobilis - itin retas reiškinys Lietuvos ralyje — *A Citroen is an extremely rare phenomenon at the Lithuanian rally*

Only two foreign starts in your statistics. Do you plan to expand the geography of the rallies? Where would you most like to go?

I haven’t had many rallies outside Lithuania, just a few. I think Lithuanian rallies are at a high enough level and we have something to do in our own backyard. But I would like to try somewhere where there is more asphalt.

Beniušis — *Maybe we will see Paulius on the asphalt?*

This season your team has been plagued by technical failures, but how do you feel about this class in terms of competition, community and other aspects?

It is a pity that this year accompanies us with so many failures. Rally is beautiful because it is both black and white. We feel quite good and competitive here. We have something to race and learn from. The LARČ5 class is a real discovery in Lithuanian rally. I would like to see other classes have such relationships and community spirit as we have. After all, we all come together for one goal – to have a good time.

Rally	Co-driver	Car	Team	Class	Overall / Class
Rally Visaginas	Kristupas Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	ST Sport	LARČ5	DNF
ORLEN Lietuva Rally	Kristupas Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	ST Sport	LARČ5	DNF
Rally Žemaitija	Kristupas Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	ST Sport	LARČ5	11(4)
7Bet Gravel Fest Rally	Kristupas Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	Všį Automobilių sporto projektų grupė	LARČ5	DNF
Cbet Rally Rokiškis	Kristupas Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	ST Sport	LARČ5	DNF

N5 Gang – Paulius Beniušis