The Lithuanian Car Rally Championship (LARČ) is only just beginning, but some of the N5 cars have already raced more than once this year and have “warmed up” sufficiently. It all started in the depths of winter in Lithuania and Latvia, and later, when our roads were trying to recover from the winter frenzy, M.Samsonas drove his Škoda Fabia N5 through Portugal. After the roads in Lithuania had dried out, tests were held every weekend in one place or another, where the “gang” of the N5 put their skills to the test. At the main rehearsal before the “7bet Rally Lazdijai”, which took place in Visaginas, 5 N5 cars were on display, and in Lazdijai no less than nine crews will compete with this N5 technology.
“7bet Rally Lazdijai” starts on Friday with two special stages, each of which will be driven twice. One of these roads is brand new and perfect for waking up. SS2/4 and the remaining 8 special stages on Saturday will be such that competitors will have to work hard to find themselves at the finish line unharmed. The roads around Lazdijai are truly magical and will require maximum concentration. The rally ends with an impressive 16-kilometer section, and the entire rally consists of more than 100 kilometers of special stages/
This year, the “Škoda Fabia N5+” trio will be fragmented – Martynas Samsonas has left it and will now drive BMW brand cars in Lithuania. On the other hand, a very interesting project related to the N5 and Martynas is brewing in the Samsonas Motorsport base. After Martynas’ departure, Linas Vaškys and Eugenijus Sladkevičius remain in the LARČ1 standings, two worthy opponents who fought each other extremely hard last season. Both had tests, both raced in Visaginas last weekend, except that Linas Vaškys had problems and did not finish. In the meantime, Eugenijus Sladkevičius has also put a new engine before the start of the LARČ.
I think the preparation for the 7bet Rally Lazdijai went well, the car will have a new heart, so everything should be positive. Of course, it will be interesting to see how we will be able to withstand such a competition, because it seems that no one will miss this competition, and I think there will be some work to do to stay in the top 10, because all the fast guys are signed up. Well, I think we will pick up the pace little by little.
E.Sladkevičius
Fierce competition will be held in the LARČ5 class, where as many as 7 crews in the N5 class will be competing. Among these seven, there are even three newcomers, so let us talk about them first. The biggest surprise is Irmantas Buivydas, who bought a Ford Fiesta N5 from Rokas Steponavičius and performed miracles with it at the Visaginas Rally, almost finishing on the overall podium. This pace of the young racer caught the attention of everyone who saw his driving style and times, and Irmantas himself immediately set his sights on the fastest N5 members after switching from the front-wheel drive Ford Fiesta R2T to 4WD technology.
We have not missed a single rally of this organizer. We competed here when the mini-rally was held, later we also drove when the competition had the status of a rally sprint, and now we will return as participants of the main league. We have grown together with this rally. We have seen a bit of this region, the surroundings of Lazdijai, maybe we will find known special stages here.
Irmantas Buivydas.
Another debutant in the N5 squad is Giedrius Firantas with VW Polo N5, who once left the public speechless with the BMW M3 and later with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. He is an extremely fast racer and it will be extremely interesting to see how he will adapt to a car with a completely different philosophy. It is true that Giedrius’ debut could be a little more modest at first, as the crew have not had any normal training and will only be able to get fully accustomed to the car in Lazdijai itself.
The third debutant will not be a complete debutant, as Jaak Tammeka has already driven the Ford Fiesta N5 of Darius Biesevičius. This happened this winter at the “Winter Rally Aukštaitija” competition and last weekend in Kėdainiai, where the first stage of the mini-rally took place. In Kėdainiai, Jaak took second place in the overall standings and appeared with a new design – maybe we will be seeing more of the Estonian in Lithuania? This will be Jaak’s debut at the LARČ.
The remaining four drivers are already very familiar with the N5 in the Lithuanian rally community and all four have their own goals and trump cards. According to the forecasts, Deividas Gezevičius, who only joined the N5 team in the middle of the season last year, should be the first to play the violin in this class. However, his late entry already showed that Deividas would only be fighting for the top places. As he carries out all the maintenance and improvement work on the Ford Fiesta N5 with his own hands, Deividas hopes that the work invested will pay off from the very first kilometers.
I spend weekends, days and nights preparing for the first start – all free time is still on the car. So I hope the car runs smoothly during the competition and we can enjoy ourselves. The rally is special because it is close to the Polish border, it will be an opportunity to buy groceries cheaper, because I spent it all on a Ford Fiesta N5
D.Gezevičius
Another Ford Fiesta N5 that will be very interesting to follow belongs to Aurimas Eidžiūnas. This man from Vilnius has spent the entire off-season practicing his driving skills and pacenotes, and already a few weeks ago in Visaginas, his stage times showed that the work was not in vain. Another important point is that one of the most promising Lithuanian co-drivers – Ugnius Vainevičius – will be sitting next to Aurimas.
We prepare for the rally as usual. The workshop is preparing the car and no major work is planned after Visaginas – perhaps preventive work such as changing the clutch or inspecting the entire car.
We have received Ugnius Vainevičius from Martynas Samsonas, who will take over the position of co-driver in Lazdijai. We had a pacenotes practice, we are not planning any further tests as there will be a shakedown stage in Lazdijai. I do not see any questions or nuances as to why we should fail at anything. We communicate with Ugnius very easily within the crew and everything is very clear, there is also something to share and opinions to exchange. Ugnius really has something to offer to improve the work.
This weekend’s rally is very special because it’s the season opener and it’s also sponsored by our most important partners, which is great. We can see that the competition will be particularly strong – there are nine N5 cars alone, and the R5 ranks are also well filled, as are some fast Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions. I think that not only the top 10 but also the top 15 in Lithuania will be very strong. Let us be happy about the upswing of the Lithuanian rally!
A.Eidžiūnas
After the not very successful 2023, Paulius Beniušis and Tomas Šmagarys will try to recover from last season. The latter, like Aurimas, has spent a lot of time training with world-class coach Kristian Sohlberg. During the winter, Tomas Šmagarys spent several weeks in faraway Lapland to learn the finer points of driving and pacenotes and took part in the legendary “Arctic Lapland” rally with his Hyundai i20 N5. Meanwhile, Paulius Beniušis spent the winter improving his Citroen C3 N5, which immediately bore fruit – the man from Kaunas finished the Visaginas Rally without any major problems.
We managed to prepare perfectly, Deividas Gezevičius helped us prepare the car, and afterwards Darius Biesevičius checked everything to make sure everything was in order. Later we went to the Visaginas rally where we tested the car and found a few more areas for improvement. On Wednesday we had another test, so everything seems to be fine with the car and we will come to Lazdijai ready. Kristupas and I also had some pacenotes training.
The rally itself is special in that it is the first on the calendar and is not driven much and is less known for drivers. Unfamiliar special stages equalize everyones chances. A good organization and good special stages await us.
P.Beniušis
| Nr. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Team | Class | |||
| 6. |  | Deividas Gezevičius | | Tomas Nenartavičius |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | Nordis racing team | LARČ5 |
| 7. | | Irmantas Buivydas | | Edvinas Buivydas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 |
| 8. | | Giedrius Firantas | | Matas Valiulis |  | VW Polo N5 | Autoralis | LARČ5 |
| 9. | | Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 |
| 10. | | Linas Vaškys | | Laurynas Paškevičius | | Škoda Fabia N5+ | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | LARČ1 |
| 16. | | Aurimas Eidžiūnas | | Ugnius Vainevičius | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing | LARČ5 |
| 19. | | Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ABEPA ST-SPORT | LARČ5 |
| 20. | | Tomas Šmagarys | | Valdas Čiuplys |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | AUTORALIS ASK | LARČ5 |
| 33. |  | Jaak Tammeka | | Jaanus Virro | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing | LARČ5 |
