That’s it – the Lithuanian Rally Championship is over. The good news is that the N5 gang season is not over yet. At least one trip to Estonia is still to come, and what comes after – we’ll see. It was said that this rally in Utena would be something special, and the speakers were not wrong at all. The Lithuanian motorsport community held a wonderful autumn festival, in which ten N5 cars participated. The list of N5 participants was identical to the Elektrėnai rally held three weeks ago – 3 LARČ1 Škoda Fabia N5+ cars and seven – LARČ5 class N5 units. They all had the pleasure of driving for two days on the roads of Utena, Anykščiai and Molėtai districts, covering almost 120 sports kilometers.

We saw Martynas and Ervinas far too less in Utena. The champions will try to make up for it in Saaremaa.

Martynas Samsonas and Ervinas Snitkas, the champions of the LARČ1 and the absolute 4WD classification, took the tension that had been on them for almost half of the season off their shoulders. In addition, these roads are well known to the crew, so no one was surprised that the lead over the competitors from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Norway grew exponentially from the first kilometers. But the Škoda Fabia N5+, which had been running like clockwork all season, was getting tired. If the alternator belt that fell in the fourth SS caused only a small loss of time and made Martynas sweat while turning the steering wheel, the broken propshaft on Sunday morning caused the racers to swap their sports suits for more casual clothes. What Martynas and Ervinas wanted to show in Utena, they will be able to show at the legendary Saaremaa Rally.

After the mistake in Elektrėnai – the very mature performance of Linas and Laurynas made it possible to deprive Eugenijus of his position in the annual ranking

The battle between the other two LARČ1 Škoda Fabia N5+, driven by Eugenijus Sladkevičius and Linas Vaškys, which lasted the whole season, was decided when one of them failed to finish in Utena. Linas Vaškys and Laurynas Paškevičius had a relatively stable rally and in the overall standings they were between positions 8-10. That was enough to win LARČ1 and take second place in the class from Eugenijus Sladkevičius in the annual standings. Meanwhile, the rally, which began difficult for Eugenijus, gradually got better and better – after the eighth SS the driver was in 16th place, but the failure stopped the racer’s sprint in the positions.

Rokas in Utena drove without saving his back and offered the audience breathtaking views
The speed of Deividas Gezevičius and Tomas Nenartavičius is something that opponents find difficult to deal with

When switching to N5 cars, which ran in the LARČ5 class, the situation was divided into three. This class was initially divided into two groups – Rokas Steponavičius, Deividas Gezevičius and Nedas Radišauskas, who were fsatest. Later, Nedas and Justas fell out of this trio – a mistake in the form of a spin put the crew of the white VW Polo at the back of the field, somewhere in the middle between the aforementioned Rokas and Deividas and the other trio consisting of Paulius Beniušis, Aurimas Eidžiūnas and Vaidotas Paškevičius. This trio, ranked 17-18-19 in the overall standings, was within striking distance. Tomas Šmagarys and Valdas Čiuplys had to get involved in all these fights, but their Hyundai i20 N5 remained parked in the service zone when it had to go through the ceremonial start.

In popular parlance, Nedas and Justas Utena had a lot of “circus”, but not enough to lose the LARČ5 championship title.

As sunday dawned on the ranks of this class – the Ford Fiesta N5 of Vaidotas Paškevičius stopped due to engine failure. However, everyone’s attention was focused on the battle between Rokas Steponavičius/Dovydas Ketvirtis and Devidas Gezevičius/Tomas Nenartavičius, which left no one indifferent. This fight reached its climax on the tenth stage, after which these crews were separated by only 0.03 seconds and occupied places 5-6 in the overall standings. The crux of this fight occurred on the eleventh SS, where Devidas’ mistake cost him about fifteen seconds. After this incident the situation didn’t change and Rokas kept his place. Nedas Radišauskas and Justas Vičiūnas probably didn’t expect such a rally, as they had a lot of unexpected adventures during the rally when their main rival in the fight for the LARČ5 title flew as if on wings. Despite everything, it seems that this season’s discovery – Nedas and Justas – have become LARČ5 champions, albeit by a very small margin. Both Nedas and Rokas will participate in the Saaremaa Rally next weekend, where they will be able to continue their battles without the stress of collecting points.

The stability and confidence of Aurimas and Justas will allow them to be third in the annual LARČ5 standings

Nuo pat ralio pradžios prasidėjusi trikovė tarp Aurimo, Vaidoto ir Pauliaus ilgainiui tapo vienkove. Sekmadienio pradžioje dėl gedimo sustojo Vaidotas Paškevičius, o Pauliui Beniušiui nepadėjo net prie saugos lankų plastikiniais priveržėjais pritvirtintas “Fortūna” saldainis – Pauliaus ir Kristupo ekipažą vėl užklupo problemos. Sustoję ir vėliau vėl pajudėję, dėl per didelio vėlavimo į laiko kontrolės punktą jie buvo pašalinti. Nors Aurimas ir prarado pagrindinius konkurentus, tačiau vilniečio pozicijų kreivė viso raliu metu po truputį augo ir tik pačiame ralio gale teko atiduoti penkioliktą vietą bendroje įskaitoje. Taip pat Aurimas liko ketvirtas LARČ5 klasėje ir pridėjęs dar tris taškus už “powerstage” užtikrintai išlaikė savo trečią poziciją metinėje LAR5 įskaitoje.

Vaidoto’s unexpected entry at the Utena Rally also ended unexpectedly. Let’s hope that the Dakar participant will return to the class circle next year.
After a difficult start to the rally, things got better for Eugene, but not for long. The end of the season did not go well for Eugenijus and Marius.

Soon the crews will leave for the Saaremaa Rally in Estonia, where no less than 7 N5+ and N5 vehicles will participate. Five of them are Lithuanians, the Pole M. Kempa with Ford Fiesta N5 of D. Biesevičius and the guests from Finland Tomi Roennemaa with Kia Rio N5..

Unfortunately, for Paulius and Kristupas even “Fortune” candy didn’t bring luck this time. Maybe they tightened it too much.

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

So a big thanks to our partners 🤝

If there is already so much joy on the podium, the participants of the N5 class get even more of it
DriverCo-driverCarTeamClassTimeOverallClass
Rokas SteponavičiusDovydas KetvirtisFord Fiesta N5ST-SPORTLARČ51:03:36.5751
Deividas GezevičiusTomas NenartavičiusFord Fiesta N5Nordis racing teamLARČ51:04:04.1262
Linas VaškysLaurynas PaškevičiusŠkoda Fabia N5+ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASKLARČ51:05:28.15101
Nedas RadišauskasJustas VičiūnasVW Polo N5Samsonas MotorsportLARČ51:06:25.98113
Aurimas EidžiūnasJustas BarysasFord Fiesta N57Bet racing by RALLY4FUNLARČ51:07:52.52154
Martynas SamsonasErvinas SnitkasCitroen C3 N5Samsonas MotorsportLARČ1DNF––
Vaidotas PaškevičiusŽilvinas JuršysFord Fiesta N5VšĮ Kupiškio auto-moto sportasLARČ5DNF––
Eugenijus SladkevičiusMarius KairysŠkoda Fabia N5+Samsonas MotorsportLARČ1DNF––
Paulius BeniušisKristupas AdinavičiusCitroen C3 N5ST-SPORTLARČ5Excluded––
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