How was your weekend in Miranda de Ebro? Is it fun to return to the discipline of contact motorsport?
The weekend was good, very good. You can say that it’s not a completely new thing for me, but I still gained new experiences and new information. We keep moving, everything is moving forward. Admittedly, we were a bit unlucky because the flights to Spain were delayed by 3 hours, so we did not make it to the tests on Friday. On Saturday I had to go straight to the start without even trying how the start program works, how the car starts, how the tires work on the surface, and the start was on the mud. That was a bit chaotic on my part.
The return to contact racing itself is strange. There was a time when my son Kajus and I left contact sports just for the sake of contacts, because, let us say, 3/4 of the field was customers. There is no way to avoid contacts if you want to get ahead, and there was no desire or logic to seek justice with customers after those contacts. That’s why we quit this sport. I tried to stay away from everyone this weekend, but unfortunately I got a little too close to a rival car in the final. After that, it turned out that we pushed each other. Maybe it was necessary to step back, but… Neither my character is like that, nor did I see much around me. Actually, I was already a whole body length ahead, but that’s sport.
How did you feel in the car, on the first day in the mud and on the second day when the track was cleaner?
I felt better on the first day in the mud or the time differences were much better. On the second day it was dry and I felt kind of lost. I think I did everything right with the settings on the first day, plus I just had to drive super carefully, that’s all. On the second day I could not find my self on the dry track and there were only 2 runs to the final, so I did not have time to feel the difference in the settings. That only means one thing – it needs a lot of work 🙂
11 N5 cars took part in the competition. What changes were made to them for the RX events?
The changes are absolutely minimal. Tarmac rally cars are used. Full asphalt rally car, only turbine restrictor 38mm. The Kumho asphalt tires are the same for everyone. Four tires for the whole weekend. Since there are 11 cars in the class and they are all identical, everything is really interesting and cool. You can only blame yourself 🙂
RMC manager Roberto Mendez also raced at the weekend. What things did you discuss during your visit to Spain?
“Boss” (Roberto Mendez) also raced the new Ford Fiesta MK8 N5 at the weekend. It’s a beautiful car and he said he would not give it to anyone else. The new Garret turbine is already there, like in our Škoda Fabia, Linas or Eugenijus, and it will be allowed in N5 cars from next year. We have talked about next year, what improvements there will be, such as a new, much more reliable turbo, which we have already had for 2 years without any problems and which we will continue to keep. There will be changes to the suspension on the asphalt cars. The biggest and most exciting moment – there are plans for the joint future of the N5 and FIA championships.
We have also discussed plans for next year. I.e. our starts at the rallies in Portugal and Spain. Thoughts and plans for today: 4 events in Portugal, plus a few in Spain. Maybe even with the “boss” Ford Fiesta MK8 N5. We thought about taking our Škoda with us, but we see that it will be difficult to do everything on our own.
Where will we see you or the other N5 gang racing in the near future?
In the near future, I think Egon Kaur in our already homologated Škoda Fabia N5 in Alūksne. I might also be racing a BMW E46 (ex m3x) with a K20 engine in Alūksne, Zarasai and Otepaa. Then I will travel to Portugal, where I will take part in the Fafe, Algarve, Vieira do Minho and Aboboreira rallies with the N5. If all goes well, with the BMW E36N5 to Turku in Finland and the Rally Estonia. There are many competitions, so my co-driver Ervinas will be supported by another young, simple and in my opinion already very strong co-driver.
