This is the fourth weekend in a row that N5 cars have been driving on more or less icy roads somewhere in northern Europe. It started in Alūksne, then we went to Zarasai, then there was a long trip to Santa Claus in Rovaniemi and this weekend the winter fun seems to end at the Sarma Rally in Gulbene. But do not be sad, the lack of action in our region will be compensated by Martynas Samsonas’ participation in Portugal in February – April.
Two N5 cars are coming to the Sarma Rally – one from Lithuania, the other from Finland.
Darius Biesevičius continues to successfully rent out his Ford Fiesta N5. After the Rally Aukštaitija, the car will be driven by a Vaidotas Paškevičius in the north of Latvia. Vaidotas bought the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII from Giedrius Firantas (who joined the N5 gang this year), but at least in Sarma, he will return to the Fiesta that he drove in the Elektrėnai and Utena rallies last year. And another interesting fact: the pacenotes will be read to him by Giedrius Notkus’ long-time co-driver Dalius Strižanas. Vaidotas will start in sixteenth place with Dalius.
Another N5 car, the Peugeot 208 N5, is well-known to Lithuanian and Finland fans. This is the same former Peugeot of Vitalijus Plastininas that went to Finland in 2022 and was driven by Jaako Lavio. Jaako has rented his car to Finnish rally veteran Sakari Vierimaa, known as Saku. The Finn has already competed in well over 200 events and has also driven the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4, the Citroen DS3 R5 and the Ford Focus WRC ’02 in Lithuania on several occasions. He has also raced all over the world and last year took part in the Lake Superior Performance Memorial Rally in the USA in an American muscle car AMC AMX. Sakari is now 67 years old, and it seems that the gentleman has no intention of slowing down. For the Finn, who has tested countless cars, this will be his debut behind the wheel of the N5.
The Sarma Rally has a rather strange format. While the Alūksnė and Aukštaitija rallies took full advantage of the early darkness and participants had to drive with extra lights in 4 special stages, the Sarma Rally organizers did everything to avoid the night. As a result, the format of the rally is very compact – three special stages of fifteen kilometers each are driven twice, with a short service zone in Gulbene in between. That’s a total of 90.50 kilometers of special stages and almost 170 kilometers of liaison. The first cars will reach the official finish as early as half past four, so half of Saturday will be really intense. Incidentally, this rally is not only an event of the Latvian but also of the Baltic Sea rally championship.
| Nr. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Team | Class | |||
| 15. |  | Saku Vierimaa | | Mika Rajasalo |  | Peugeot 208 N5 | Saku Vierimaa | LRC5 |
| 16. |  | Vaidotas Paškevičius | | Dalius Strižanas |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | Vaidotas Paškevičius | LRC1 / Proto |
