The Lithuanian Rally Championship enters its second half, where rallies that have already become legends await. The first of them is the CBet Rally Rokiškis, which, as usual, prepares a much larger number of kilometers for the participants, and a fairly large part of these kilometers is also unique. In addition, a qualifying stage is held, which is a very rare thing in our rallies. Therefore, this rally is often the biggest test for the man and machine. In addition, the N5 has a whole series of question marks and new things, which we will now address.
First of all, we must congratulate the youngest members of the N5 gang – Rokas Markovičius and Martynas Masaitis, who only started their rally career this year and managed to complete 10 events in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Not all of these rallies could indeed be completed due to breakdowns in their car – a Subaru Impreza. When the engine blew up in Mažeikiai a few weeks ago, patience ran out and the team immediately looked to the Hyundai i20 N5, which had just been put on sale and was driven by Tomas Šmagarys. Rokas Markovičius spoke in more detail about this move and its origins.
It is no secret that we were unable to finish the last two LARČ rallies due to Subaru Impreza engine failure – in Lazdijai the engine exploded in the first kilometers of the first special stage, and when it was repaired a little later, history repeated itself in Mažeikiai. We are trying hard and the whole team is working really hard, but the engine keeps blowing up, so we are tired of these problems. Then we realized that the equipment needed to be renewed – at that time we were not thinking and did not know what to buy and what to do. We consulted a lot with friends and colleagues, and they all said that Subaru would be bad in one way or another. We considered whether we should invest in a full-fledged sports engine, change the car itself or maybe even end the rally career altogether because it’s simply physically impossible to drive the way we do now. After consulting with colleagues, friends, sponsors and, above all, our family, we decided that we needed a different car. It was the family that supported us the most, supported us and will support us emotionally and be there for us no matter what happens to us. We looked around to see what we could find locally, what was available abroad, and we decided on two options. One of them is a brand new Rally3 car in Cyprus, but we received information that an N5 car is being sold in Lithuania. This car met our requirements and we will already start at the Rally Rokiškis with the Hyundai i20 N5. We hope that this investment will finally give us the satisfaction of driving a rally car, because so far we have been working on the car more than driving it. Family is always the biggest positive pressure and we will try to make something of it.
R. Markovičius
Now, while Rokas and Martynas learn to drive the N5 car, the leaders of this class will have another fight on their hands.But the levels of moods are as different as night and day. The gap between the LARČ events of just two weeks is quite small, especially considering the length and complexity of the Rokiškis rally. If Giedrius Firantas is just doing a bit of cosmetics, and Eugenijus Sladkevičius is happy with Marius Kairys’ return to the co-driver seat, then these days are stressful, to say the least for the other two N5 youngsters. Both Deividas Gezevičius’ and Irmantas Buivydas’ cars are still being prepared for the competition, and as the time until the cars appear in the technical commission passes very quickly, the anxiety is growing. So we can only hope that the necessary parts will quickly find their way to the two Ford Fiesta N5s and we will see them on the legendary roads of Rokiškis district. Paulius Beniušis and Kristupas Adinavičius must not be forgotten either. It will be an opportunity for them to return to the rhythm that the team maintained before the Orlen Lietuva Rally, and the scheduled work on the car, done in time, will ensure the team a successful finish. By the way, this rally gives Kristupas pleasant sentiments. The participants themselves tell more about everything 🙂
The mood is bad at the moment, because it is not yet clear whether it will be possible to start in Rokiškis. The car is still disassembled in the garage, we are waiting for all the necessary parts. If we manage to start, then without training.
I. Buivydas
The mood is very good, because there are some very good stages ahead. Things look a little different in the garage, however, as the gearbox and shock absorbers are still being renewed at the “Samsonas Motorsport” base, and we are also waiting for a new air filter and a power steering tube from Kaunas. The assembly and other work is still pending, so there is a lot of work before the start of the rally 🙂
D.Gezevičius
It seems that all is well – Marius is back on the air after “health-rebuild. I think that this time the operation was successful and his health will not fail, and if it gets bad – we have a doctor in the crew, we will treat him The car seems to be working, there were no problems in Mažeikiai, so we will change what is necessary depending on the mileage, and I think we will push pedal to the metal, although I think it will not be easy. But we are not looking for easy ways
E.Sladkevičius
The VW Polo N5 was a bit cosmetically damaged at the last rally, so a lot of time will be spent on freshening up the looks and of course ongoing work such as oils, tuning etc. As for the atmosphere, it’s stress-free, we’ll try to go fast, but whether it’s an absolute 7 or 10 – I don’t care.
G.Firantas
The most difficult rally of the year, where the most important thing is to be in a good mood.
Many kilometers, many unique stages are driven once, which requires a lot and very high concentration, because fatigue will definitely make itself felt, and the very large number of participants will definitely not allow you to relax.
The car is still on the lift, there was a lot of planned work after the Orlen Lietuva Rally, and the time gap between rallies was not very long, so this time we will come directly to the rally without any tests or additional preparation.
P.Beniušis
Rally Rokiškis was my first A-League stage in my career, so I have some sentiments for him. This year there will be a lot of special stages that will be driven once in a row, which means a lot of paperwork and extra preparation during the rally, but that does not scare us and we will travel in good spirits
We have not planned any additional stages before the competition, but as we will be starting in the top 20, we will take part in the free practice and qualifying stages. I think this will help us to find our rhythm and get used to the sporting pace. The last Mažeikiai rally did not go the way we wanted it to, but it allowed us to drive without tension and it was good training for the next rally.
K.Adinavičius
| Nr. | | Driver | | Co-driver | | Car | Team | Class |
| 7. |  | Irmantas Buivydas | | Edvinas Buivydas |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 |
| 8. | | Deividas Gezevičius | | Tomas Nenartavičius | | Ford Fiesta N5 | Nordis racing team | LARČ1 |
| 9. | | Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 |
| 10. | | Giedrius Firantas | | Matas Valiulis |  | VW Polo N5 | Autoralis | LARČ5 |
| 17. | | Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ABEPA ST-SPORT | LARČ5 |
| 44. | | Rokas Markovičius | | Martynas Masaitis |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | Gorilla Burgers | LARČ5 |
