The Lithuanian automobile rally championship travelled from the south of Lithuania to the north-west, where the well-known special stages near Kelmė awaited everyone. This time, the sporting part of the Rally Žemaitija 2025, which is 2nd round of LARČ took place in just one day, which was quite long, with more than 110 extremely fast kilometres. Six of the planned 8 N5 cars arrived in Kelmė.
Although the main part took place on Saturday, some action was also on Friday, when a shakedown was held in the evening. In the first run, Justinas Brokorius entered the right-hand corner too quickly and rolled. Fortunately, his Ford Fiesta N5 was rather softly supported by the long-lived thujas and the damage to the car was not very extensive. The mechanics managed to prepare the car for the start on Saturday.
Already on Saturday morning, Deividas Gezevičius and Evaldas Kvederis showed a phenomenal speed. Their Ford Fiesta N5 finished in fourth place, only 20 seconds short of the podium. It is great that Deividas Gezevičius is finally showing a very high pace this year without any major problems. In the eighth SS, the crew was able to post the second time in the overall standings and showed a commendable stability. In the end, Deividas was 20 seconds off the podium and more than a minute ahead of fifth place. This enabled him to win the LARČ1 class.
Paulius Beniušis and Kristupas Adinavičius, who have been pushing hard this year, also showed a very stable and excellent pace. Driving the Citroen C3 N5, they consistently achieved top 6-7 times and crossed the finish line in sixth place overall after ten SS, winning the LARČ5 class. At the beginning of the competition, Eugenijus Sladkevičius was close to Paulius, but the driver from Elektrėnai dropped back in the middle of the rally. As the rally progressed, Eugenijus Sladkevičius moved up to 9th place in the overall standings and fourth place in the LARČ1 class. Justinas Brokorius and Ramūnas Paškevičius rehabilitated themselves very well after the incident in the shakedown. Starting the rally without a rear wing and somewhat more cautiously, the crew continued to step on the gas and crossed the finish line in 11th place, taking second place in the LARČ5 class. A great result after Friday’s adventures.
Julius Masonas, who was making his debut in the LARČ, stayed in the top twenty during the first part of the rally. Unfortunately, a solid debut with Aras Kalėda and Renault Clio N5 was halted by a problem with the power steering. Audronis Gulbinas and Vytis Paliukonis were ten positions further back in third place in the LARČ5 class. Unfortunately, the crew of the Volkswagen Polo N5 had to retire a few special stages before the end.
The third round of the Lithuanian Rally Championship takes place in Ukmergė. The week before, we should also see at least a few N5 cars at the LARSČ round in Tauragė.
| Driver | Co-driver | Car | Team | Class | Time | Overall | Class | |||
 | Deividas Gezevičius | | Evaldas Kvederis |  | Ford Fiesta N5 | ABEPA ST-SPORT | LARČ1 | 55:41.44 | 4 | 1 |
| Paulius Beniušis | | Kristupas Adinavičius |  | Citroen C3 N5 | ABEPA ST-SPORT | LARČ5 | 57:48.80 | 6 | 1 |
| Eugenijus Sladkevičius | | Marius Kairys |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | Elektrėnų ASK | LARČ1 | 59:36.50 | 9 | 4 |
| Justinas Brokorius | | Ramūnas Paškevičius | | Ford Fiesta N5 | VšĮ Ralio Ratai | LARČ5 | 59:52.73 | 11 | 2 |
| Audronis Gulbinas | | Vytis Paliukonis |  | VW Polo N5 | GSR MOTOSPORT | LARČ5 | DNF | – | – |
| Julius Masonas | | Aras Kalėda |  | Renault Clio N5 | RallyLithuania.com | LARČ5 | DNF | – | – |
