N5 Lithuania season

It was a really long but fast-paced year that started in the polar night in the far north and ended in mud baths on the magical island of Saaremaa. How was this N5 season? Amazing – in short. This amazingness can be illustrated with a few numbers like these. The N5 LTU season consisted of 17 events in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Spain. 15 different drivers were behind the wheel of N5 cars in official competitions in Lithuania. Among them was also a guest from Poland, M. Kempa, and a co-driver – D. Ketvirtis. The N5 legion consisted of 11 cars – 4 Ford Fiesta N5, 3 Škoda Fabia N5+ and one each of VW Polo N5, Renault Clio N5, Citroen C3 N5 and Hyundai i20 N5. Over the course of the year, Lithuania became one of the countries with the largest number of N5 vehicles, and this successful example is being observed by many interested parties.

Martynas Samsonas, who got the whole thing rolling, shared his thoughts on the 2023 N5 season

Lithuania became one of the most numerous N5 countries

Yes, Lithuania has become one of the largest N5 countries. This year we had 11 such cars. We worked so that it would not be a dry project. Not to mention the technical side, where we tried to share all information, support, organization. We also worked a lot on the media, for which Vilius and Mantvydas were responsible. As you can see, we have both a WEB page and Facebook and we pay a lot of attention to N5 crews. We describe competitions, conduct interviews, publish a lot of information in photos and videos. By the way, the N5LTU page, as far as I can see, is the only such website so far in Lithuania, where all class matters are fully described. So much about the cars, about the essence and meaning, about all the crews, about their history, about their achievements. Also score tables, calendars of all competitions, etc. In my opinion, it is very important to pay attention to the crews, to provide all the information about what is happening, because often fans and viewers simply cannot find information.

Do such figures attract the attention of other countries?

Strongly attracts. Portugal is one such country. Several cars have already appeared there this year. Our friends “Domingos Sport” have also bought some cars, to be honest, at the moment I do not even know how many. Next year we are planning and preparing with our Škoda Fabia N5 to participate in all five rounds of the Portuguese Gravel Rally Championship. As the N5 homologation will be completed next year with the same turbine as ours, we will only have to modify the exhaust, add a catalytic converter, change the steel hoods and spoiler, and we will be full participants in the N5 class with a homologated car.
In Portugal, the gravel championship runs from February until midsummer, followed by the asphalt championship. Our plan is to drive a few more events in Spain, perhaps also in Italy if time and luck allow. In the fall, we absolutely have to drive to Ireland and Samsonas Rally Utena.
That’s it as far as the south is concerned. There’s really a lot of interest in the north. After the Saaremaa rally, we had serious conversations with three really famous and fast Estonians. Together we had the tests in Kelmė and continued talking. We are planning winter events in Latvia with some Estonian guys to drive our Škoda. We will give it a try.

What does RMC Motorsport itself think about such a quantitative leap in Lithuania?

Well, they are of course very grateful to us and also help us a lot with fast service, with keeping all the details, logistics, and so on. We have great support.

At the beginning of the year, there was skepticism about the N5 cars. Do you think you have managed to change the attitude of the rally community towards N5 during these years?

Unfortunately, the skepticism was only from 2-3 camps that were hindered by this project. For some it was market issues, for others perhaps Lithuanian envy. But those who wanted to drive here all waited a long time. The rest of the Lithuanian rally community, spectators, fans, media, etc. were just happy, and many non-class participants thanked us for bringing a breath of fresh air to Lithuanian motorsport. We did not specifically change the attitude of the community or anything. I think the whole project got its strong face, found its place. Yes, let us say there were technical issues, but we all know why there were issues. In most cases it was simply maintenance issues. But basically I can say that we discovered a lot of better things in Lithuania than in other N5 countries, for example the turbine pressure control.

Participants under the N5 LTU flag started no less than seventeen rallies in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Spain. Did you expect the whole thing to escalate like this?

Maybe I even tried to stop and calm everyone down a bit. It’s Aurimas Eidžiūnas who made more ambitious plans. We then drove a lot, but I think our advantage is that we try to be open and help as much as we can. By the way, Aurimas and his “8000 RPM” are responsible for the entire N5 thing like storage of parts and supplies.

Over the years, the participants in the N5 class have acquired the nickname of “N5 Gang”. What can you say about this community? Did it live up to its name?

It’s not surprising, but I’m also pleased because a really good “gang” has come together. All, as I say, “normal” people. We really had a lot of good moments and a lot of laughs. At the start maybe it was some stress, but from the trip to Spain and beyond, my stomach really hurt from laughing

How have the Lithuanian and general N5 cars improved over the year?

I think the quality has improved a lot. Not as much as we would like, but we are making progress. It must be clear that budgets are not Rally2 and experience is not Rally2. If the budget is 2 to 3 times smaller, then the experience is a hundred times different. In any case, we have greatly improved our suspension work and dampers. We are now mainly working on proper maintenance issues, tips and descriptions.

What can we expect on the N5 front next year?

I do not think there will be any great miracles. On the technical side, there will be even more control. At the same time, there will be more clarifications, some changes with more reliable units. As for the group of participants, it will be news. Then we will try to talk some sense into an Alytus gangster so that he does not sell the car, but gets his work and priorities in order. By the way, there are now four real people we are talking to about joining the “gang”. There is a new participant who is building a car, but it is not clear when he will finish it, there is an old participant who is building a second car, maybe for rent, maybe for trips abroad. There are also campaigns in Latvia and Estonia. It’s difficult to expect classes there next year, but I think it’s very realistic to see N5 cars. We have also been coordinating the arrival of the N5 in Australia for a good six months. We are really not taking a nap

Some statistics. The total number of finished stage kilometers completed in the official races this year:

Driver	Co-driver	Car	Mileage
Martynas Samsonas	Ervinas Snitkas	Škoda Fabia N5+	1104 km
Linas Vaškys	Laurynas Paškevičius	Škoda Fabia N5+	924 km
Vilmantas Padegimas	U.Vainevičius, T.Zamara, E.Gurevičius	Renault Clio N5	885 km
Rokas Steponavičius	D.Ketvirtis, K.Gedgaudas	Ford Fiesta N5	827 km
Nedas Radišauskas	J.Vičiūnas	VW Polo N5	792 km
Aurimas Eidžiūnas	J.Barysas, Ž.Juršys	Ford Fiesta N5	711 km
Eugenijus Sladkevičius	M.Kairys	Škoda Fabia N5+	673 km
Paulius Beniušis	K.Adinavičius	Citroen C3 N5	433 km
Deividas Gezevičius	T.Nenartavičius	Ford Fiesta N5	373 km
Tomas Šmagarys	V.Čiuplys, K.Sohlberg	Hiunday i20 N5	307 km
Mikolaj Kempa	S.Wach, M.Szeja	Ford Fiesta N5	191 km
Ramūnas Čapkauskas	T.Čapkauskas, T.Šipkauskas	Ford Fiesta N5	160 km
Vaidotas Paškevičius	J.Vičiūnas, Ž.Juršys	Ford Fiesta N5	155 km
Kajus Samsonas	J.Vičiūnas	VW Polo N5	88 km
Dovydas Ketvirtis	R.Steponavičius	Ford Fiesta N5	20 km