The first event of the Lithuanian automobile rally championship in Lazdijai gave no one a moment’s rest. Extremely fast stages, complemented by extremely technical sections, difficult terrain and two days of rain made this competition one that we will remember for a long time. From the first hundred meters, the participants, including many former N5 members, were overcome by treacherous conditions. We wish them all a speedy recovery. However, the seven N5 members did not have too many problems with the extremely difficult conditions and the competition was successful for most of the crews.

D.Gezevičius / E.Kvederis - Ford Fiesta N5
D.Gezevičius / E.Kvederis – Ford Fiesta N5
P.Beniušis / K.Adinavičius - Citroen C3 N5
P.Beniušis / K.Adinavičius – Citroen C3 N5

Right at the start of the rally, Deividas Gezevičius and Evaldas Kvederis set an excellent pace. Their Ford Fiesta N5 was the fastest among their classmates and fought hard for the top 5 position in the overall rally standings, which they eventually achieved. At the same time, Deividas and Evaldas remained second in the LARČ1 class. Paulius Beniušis and Kristupas Adinavičius, who were extremely fast, stayed close to their classmates throughout the rally. The Kaunas-resident drivers in the Citroen C3 N5 also showed a very stable pace, which was slightly slower than that of Deividas. Nevertheless, it was enough for victory in the LARČ5 class and 7th place in the overall standings. While Paulius and Kristupas tried to chase Deividas, the orange Citroen was followed by the red Škoda Fabia N5+ of Eugenijus Sladkevičius and Marius Kairys. After the entire rally, Eugenijus was 25 seconds behind his classmate and finished third in the LARČ1 class, remaining ninth in the overall standings.

E.Sladkevičius / M.Kairys - Škoda Fabia N5+
E.Sladkevičius / M.Kairys – Škoda Fabia N5+
M.Kempa / A.Tomaszewski - Ford Fiesta N5
M.Kempa / A.Tomaszewski – Ford Fiesta N5

The guests from Poland – Mikolaj Kempa and Andrzej Tomaszewski – drove a very good race. They started the rally and got more and more confident, moving up from 18th place overall to 11th place within 90 kilometers and remaining second in the LARČ5 class. A very exciting battle between Aurimas Eidžiūnas / Justas Barysas and Justinas Brokorius / Ramūnas Paškevičius took place throughout the competition. Both crews, who were driving Ford Fiesta N5 cars, drove second by second until the last special stage. After the final service, before the 13.80 km Power Stage, they were separated by just 3.77 seconds. Unfortunately, Justinas Brokorius lost around thirteen minutes in the final SS and dropped back in the overall standings, but remained fifth in the LARČ5 class. For Audronis Gulbinas, his debut with a completely different level of equipment in the LARČ event was successful – the veteran finished the competition successfully and collected many points for 4th place in the LARČ5 class.

A.Eidžiūnas / J.Barysas - Ford Fiesta N5
A.Eidžiūnas / J.Barysas – Ford Fiesta N5
A.Gulbinas / V.Paliukonis - VW Polo N5
A.Gulbinas / V.Paliukonis – VW Polo N5
J.Brokorius / R.Paškevičius - Ford Fiesta N5
J.Brokorius / R.Paškevičius – Ford Fiesta N5


DriverCo-driverCarTeamClassTimeOverallClass
Deividas GezevičiusEvaldas KvederisFord Fiesta N5ABEPA ST-SPORTLARČ146:31.5352
Paulius BeniušisKristupas AdinavičiusCitroen C3 N5ABEPA ST-SPORTLARČ547:16.1771
Eugenijus SladkevičiusMarius KairysŠkoda Fabia N5+Elektrėnų ASKLARČ147:41.1993
Mikolaj KempaAndrzej TomaszewskiFord Fiesta N5Tylko Lechia GdańskLARČ549:01.25112
Aurimas EidžiūnasJustas BarysasFord Fiesta N57Bet RacingLARČ550:07.05153
Audronis GulbinasVytis PaliukonisVW Polo N5GSR MOTOSPORTLARČ554:25.95424
Justinas BrokoriusRamūnas PaškevičiusFord Fiesta N5VšĮ Ralio RataiLARČ51:02:52.24595


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