That’s it, the rather long summer break, which wasn’t so boring after all, is over. The action took place at smaller or foreign competitions and tests, but it’s still good to return to the battles of the Lithuanian rally championship. A few other factors add to the fun – after having a slightly lower number of N5 participants in Rokiškis, the situation in Elektrėnai is much better. Aurimas Eidžiūnas returns and Adomas Petrovas will test the N5 technique for the first time. The Elektrėnai rally follows the usual format – few special stages, but they are long (10-15 km) and, as always, technical and difficult. The terrain and surface of this region give this event a special flavor. If by chance some participants haven’t sorted out their battles on the gravel, they can do so in the final stage through the streets of Elektrėnai, just like last year. A total of 105.60 kilometers of special stages await.
E. Sladkevičius should definitely join the usual fastest N5 trio of D. Gezevičius, I. Buivydas and G. Firantas, as this is his home rally. The man from Elektrėnai is extremely fast here and he will want to avenge last year’s DNF. Eugenijus will definitely have to click, though, as D. Gezevičius, who has switched to the LARČ1 class, is right next to Eugenijus and both probably have ambitions to overtake Linas Vaškys, who, after selling his N5 car and not having time to finish up the second car, is driving a different car. It’s a completely different story for I. Buivydas, who has amassed a huge lead in the LARČ5 class and is on the verge of securing the title of LARČ5 champion in Elektrėnai. The battle in the general 4WD classification is very intense and there is still a lot to fight for. G. Firantas comes to the Elektrėnai rally a little differently than usual – for this event, the usual co-driver M. Valiulis is replaced by A. Kalėda, who has swapped the steering wheel for a pacenotes notebook in recent years.
In Elektrėnai, we will again have the opportunity to see the duel between the crews of P. Beniušis and A. Eidžiūnas, who have clearly gained momentum this year. Paulius Beniušis has a good chance of retaining second place in the LARČ5 standings, but to do so he needs to be as high as possible after crossing the finish line. The returning Aurimas Eidžiūnas can prevent that. After the man from Vilnius had an accident at the Žemaitija Rally, it was not clear whether we would see him again this season, as the team was already busy with the production of the new N5 project. But as Elektrėnai approached, we saw that the Ford Fiesta N5 regained its healthy body shape, and a few days before the rally, this car was already running in tests. By the way, Justas Barysas, who Ugnius Vainevičius replaced, returned to the Aurimas car.
There could be another interesting duel in this rally, but it will be very limited to watch because R. Markovičius will drive in LARČ and A. Petrovas in LARSČ. Perhaps we can’t call Rokas Markovičius an N5 rookie, as this will be his fourth competition with a Hyundai i20 N5 car. The crew indeed experienced the first crash in their lives at the last competition in Plungė. After analyzing the mistake and repairing the car, the crew will return stronger. Incidentally, the marks of good speed were already evident at the rallies in Cesis and Plungė.
For the first time, Adomas Petrovas will be behind the wheel of the N5, which was seen in several events of the Lithuanian Rally Sprint Championship this year, where he drove the Mitsubishi Lancer 4WD Proto car of Darius Biesevičius. Adomas will also rent a car from Darius Biesevičius this time, but not a Lancer, but a Ford Fiesta N5. Adomas and legendary co-driver Audrius Šošas will drive half a shorter rally distance.
| Nr. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Team | Class | |||
| 7. |  | Deividas Gezevičius | | Tomas Nenartavičius |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | Nordis racing team | LARČ1 |
| 8. | | Irmantas Buivydas | | Edvinas Buivydas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing by RALLY4FUN | LARČ5 |
| 9. | | Giedrius Firantas | | Aras Kalėda |  | VW Polo N5 | Autoralis | LARČ5 |
| 11. | | Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Samsonas Motorsport | LARČ1 |
| 20. | | Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ABEPA ST-SPORT | LARČ5 |
| 26. | | Aurimas Eidžiūnas | | Justas Barysas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | 7Bet Racing | LARČ5 |
| 35. | | Rokas Markovičius | | Martynas Masaitis |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | Gorilla Burgers | LARČ5 |
| 77. | | Adomas Petrovas | | Audrius Šošas | | Ford Fiesta N5 | Petrovo motorsportas | LARČ5 |
