Although the Lithuanian rally season is held only in the warm season and the calendar is quite intense, the month of August, like many people, took a vacation from the Lithuanian rally championship. However, some crews took advantage of the mini-rally competition in Kražiai, but for many this more than one-month break between the fourth and fifth event of the LARČ was absolutely necessary. At the “Cbet Rally Rokiškis” at the end of July, a large number of cars were more or less damaged, so a few extra weeks were like a salvation for the teams that wanted to get their cars back in shape for the Elektrėnai Rally.
Į Elektrėnus atvyko devyni N5+ bei N5 automobiliai – vienu daugiau nei Rokiškyje, nors jų turėjo būti dešimt. Paskutinę sekundę iš sąrašų dingo T.Šmagario pavardė, tačiau buvo smagu LARČ etape vėl išvysti juodą Dariaus Biesevičiaus Ford Fiesta N5, kurią šį kartą išsinuomavo Vaidotas Paškevičius su Pauliuimi Vičiūnu. Į Elektrėnus taip pat atvyko ir Deividas Gezevičius, kuriam Rokišks tapo sėkmingu debiutu su savo surinktu Ford Fiesta N5 automobiliu.
This year the format of the Elektrėnai Rally returned to its origins, when the entire main part of the rally was held in one day. Only the city stage was moved from Friday evening to Saturday to be better attended by rally spectators. The total distance was 115 kilometers, divided into nine special stages. Being already the end of the season, many competitors came to the competition with different goals – some had to avoid failures and just finish, while others had to get everything out of themselves and the car so that after the competition as many points as possible would end up on their account. All these mathematicians were influenced by a special feature of the Elektrėnai Rally – stones. A lot of stones.
In the LARČ1 class, where the N5+ class cars compete, the situation was quite simple. The leader of the class and the championship just had to finish without any major dramas to secure both the absolute 4WD and the LARČ1 class championship. That’s what Martynas Samsonas and Ervinas Snitkas did, and moreover, the competitors themselves fell like leaves. Giedrius Notkus, the main competitor for the absolute classification, had a flat tire and later an accident. In the battles of the LARČ1 class, Eugenijus Sladkevičius – a resident of Elektrėnai and the runner-up in LARČ1 class got into a collision with the stump, which caused him to lose about half an hour. Later Eugenijus and Linas did not continue in the rally due to the damage car suffered. Linas Vaškys and Laurynas Paškevičius did not take the opportunity to overtake their main rival in the LARČ1 classification – their Škoda Fabia N5+ had an accident in the fourth special stage.
After all these events, Martynas Samson had to abandon his usual max-speed driving style and simply bring the car safely to the finish line, where a huge group of fans was waiting, dousing both Martynas himself and Ervinas with champagne, or even the car itself and the marshals standing next to it. The title of Lithuanian champion is the most beautiful thank you from Martynas to the team, which stands behind him like a family and has been working towards this goal for many years.
There could have been a winner in the LARČ5 class at the Elektrėnai Rally as well, but it did not come to that because the special stages in the Elektrėnai region were apparently only suitable for Ford Fiesta N5 and Martynas Škoda this time – all the others were on the list of those who withdrew from the competition. The main focus of the LARČ5 was on the battle for the title between Nedas Radišauskas and Rokas Steponavičius. Nedas had the better results for himself in the beginning, as Rokas punctured twice before the long 22-km stage, forcing him to reduce his pace. However, those setbacks were far less severe than what happened to Nedas. During the traditional 100 percent finish for the white VW Polo N5, the stone broke and damaged the car’s suspension. Nedas and Justas had to lay down their arms and use up the “life” that the n-1 rule offers them. Unfortunately, the stone took the long-awaited and desired goal to finish from Paulius Beniušis and Kristupas Adinavičius. The Citroen C3 N5 crew was driving in an excellent third place in the LARČ5 class and 7th overall until the unfortunate turn of things. In the battle with Rokas Steponavičius, Nedas Radišauskas was replaced by the crew of Deividas Gezevičius and Tomas Nenartavičius. Halfway through the rally, Deividas moved to the top of the LARČ5 and the overall podium, but in the afternoon Rokas Steponavičius, who showed better times, took the lead and eventually climbed to the overall podium. This result means that the fight for the LARČ5 title is entering the final round in Utena.
Aurimas Eidžiūnas, who braked only with the handbrake for twenty-two kilometers, repaired the car after the long service and managed to move up from 19th place overall to tenth place in the remaining five Elektrėnai special stages, and among the N5 cars the man from Vilnius finished fourth. With this result, Aurimas further established himself in third place in the LARČ5 standings, but he can’t be completely reassured yet – theoretically, Deividas Gezevičius can overtake him on points. Vaidotas Paškevičius, who has kept his form in the classic rally for the Dakar Rally, is in the N5 team this time and was very satisfied. The Ford Fiesta N5 drives much more comfortably than the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution he drove before, which allowed him, together with co-driver Paulius Vičiūnas, to reach the finish on the LARČ5 podium without any major dramas and win eighth place overall. This is Vaidotas first podium and highest overall result at this year’s LARČ.
This season, LARČ5 class participants driving N5 cars are supported by partners such as sports fuel supplier P1 FUELS, Italian lubricant manufacturer Pakelo Lubricants and sports car parts distributor DAS Performance.
The first-place crew in the LARČ5 class receives a barrel of P1 fuel, the second-place crew – 8 liters of Pakelo Lubricants oil and the third-place crew is given a check from DAS Performace for sports car parts and accessories.
So a big thanks to our partners 
Now there are only two and a half weeks left until the final chord of LARČ – the last event in Utena, where both LARČ1 and LARČ5 winners will be decided. See you there 🙂
| Driver | Co-Driver | Car | Team | Class | Time | Overall | Class | |||
 | Martynas Samsonas | | Ervinas Snitkas |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 | 1:06:40.81 | 2 | 1 |
| Rokas Steponavičius | | Dovydas Ketvirtis |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | Všį Automobilių sporto projektų grupė | LARČ5 | 1:07:19.13 | 3 | 1 |
| Deividas Gezevičius | | Tomas Nenartavičius | | Ford Fiesta N5 | Nordis racing team | LARČ5 | 1:07:35.01 | 4 | 2 |
| Vaidotas Paškevičius | | Paulius Vičiūnas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | Kupiškio auto moto sportas | LARČ5 | 1:09:51.44 | 8 | 3 |
| Aurimas Eidžiūnas | | Justas Barysas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 | 1:11:40.82 | 10 | 4 |
| Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ST-SPORT | LARČ5 | Incident | – | – |
| Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 | Incident | – | – |
| Nedas Radišauskas | | Justas Vičiūnas |  | VW Polo N5 | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ5 | Incident | – | – |
| Linas Vaškys | | Laurynas Paškevičius | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | LARČ1 | Incident | – | – |
