Last year there was also an article from this Samsonas Rally Rokiškis. A very famous guest, Tonni Gardemeister was visiting Lithuania at that time. Unfortunately, technical problems stopped his rally with Samsonas prepared BMW M3. This year there was no Tonni, but there was his company (TGS Worldwide) car, Škoda Fabia Evo2 in a field, driven by a 2019 Finland champion Teemu Asunmaa. He was one of three main candidates to take a Samsonas trophy. The second one – last year winner, Lithuania rally champion and Dakar rally star – Vaidotas Žala with the older version of Škoda Fabia R5, serviced by SRT. And I mentioned Sports Racing Technologies not without the reason. 5 years this company was the main companion for a third contender to win a Rally Rokiškis. Now, – Nikolay Gryazin is a Hyundai factory team driver.
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Adrian Sadowski
This rally was the first in 18 years old Gracjan Predko’s rally career. A tough one for a debut I would say. So let’s hear more about it from his co-driver – Adrian Sadowski.
Continue reading…Krzysztof Bubik
Last weekend Lithuania rally championship officially started. The first two snow rounds were canceled due very warm winter in the Baltic region. Third round, a month late due to lockdown happened successfully. It was meant to be also a Polish championship event, but You know that plans and the year of 2020 do not merge well. And it seems that the other 3 remaining rounds will happen without a problem, which is great news for rally fans here in Lithuania. The one-day event was won by Rally and Dakar rally driver Vaidotas Žala with Škoda Fabia R5. For quite of time, he has no one to stop here. Simply he is too good. But there were many battles in all classes. Fights until the last meters were happening for 2nd place and for the 2WD winner. But I will not spread about it more, because I have an interview with one guest, who visited us from Poland. He is Krzysztof Bubik. For the first time in Lithuanian stages – he was very quick and impressive with his BMW M3 E46. Only technical problems seized his final result.
So, Krzysztof Bubik is on the plate.
Test Rally Sosnova ’20
Although the first waves of official championships have already started, we will touch the tests once again. A few weeks ago, all the cream of the Czech rally gathered in the northern part of the Czech Republic, where the Sosnova track is located. It is used very widely – rally, rally-cross, drift, and other disciplines are located there. The track is used also in the Richard Burns Rally game, which has two versions of it. And people gathered there because the start of the country rally championship is near. So it was the perfect opportunity to train the muscles and metal to be able to push in the Bohemian Rally from the first kilometers. Test Rally Sosnova.
Continue reading…Kisvaszar Rally 3 ’20
After a long and freezing period, when motorsport had to move to the virtual space, a kind of spring finally comes. The first blossoms are a various team and co-organized tests designed to get petrol flow back in the veins of cars and petrol heads. A few more weeks later, the first small-scale events were launched. Little by little, everything is trying to get back to the old tracks. Kisvaszar Rally 3.
Continue reading…Dyteris Manfredas Gocentas (Fred Gocentas)
There quite a number of rally masters born or raised in Lithuania. And most of them are known for Lithuanians. But there is one Lithuanian surname that is well known in the World Rally Community, especially in Australia, and vice versa in Lithuania. Fred Gocentas.
Continue reading…Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo ’20
This year, every Lithuanian motorsport enthusiasts found interesting phenomena. On the sad side, the first two rounds of the Lithuanian Rally Championship were canceled when winter forgot to visit this part of Europe. But at the beginning of January, serious men shook hands and lifted their hats and helmets against Vaidotas Žala and Saulius Jurgelėnas which drove the Dakar’s first stage as the leaders should drive, fast and error-free, winning the opener. Then, at the other end of the world, young Gustas Grimbergas stepped on the podium in Australia as the LMP2 AM winner in the Asia Le Mans series. And in the end, when you turned on the broadcast of the World Rally Championship, you could see and hear something that few Lithuanians have even dreamed of. There, in the French Alps, M-Sport car was guided with Lithuanian pace notes with Deividas Jocius behind the wheel. He is the first Lithuanian to start with the WRC car in modern WRC history. So briefly I will honor this event -Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
Continue reading…Arctic Lapland Rally ’20
Rovaniemi is a city in the legendary Lapland region with a Santa Claus in the neighborhood. It is one of the few places where snowbanks are with a car roof at the moment. Thus, the Arctic Lapland Rally avoided the fate of Winter (Lithuania), Sarma (Latvia) or Finnskog (Norway) rallies due to lack of frost and snow. In addition, it is one of the most famous snow rallies in the world, which is only losing a place to WRC Sweden.
Continue reading…Romania Historic Winter Rally ’20
In most countries, where snow should already exist and winter rallies are canceled or moved, someplace in Romania does not have this issue. In the middle of the country, in a mountainous area near Brașov, the organizers covered over 200 kilometers of snowy roads. And Transylvania, one of the coldest regions in Romania, did not spoil the feast. Over 50 different historic cars took on snow-covered roads. This rally is not a championship event, but simply a celebration for petrolheads at the very beginning of the year when action is really lacking. Plus, it’s one of the few places where historic-class cars compete in sub-zero temperatures. The same organizers are organizing a gravel rally in the same neighborhood, except this one is in October and is twice as long.
Continue reading…Jännerrallye ’20
Many big things have their smaller copies scattered somewhere in the World. Be it museums or events. For example, the 24-hour Le Mans race has a counterpart in the US, where Petit Le Mans (Little Le Mans) takes place in Atlanta. And on the first weekend of January, fans focus their attention on the neighborhood of Freistadt, northern Austria, where the “little” Monte Carlo rally is held. Jännerrallye
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