Although MCA Capriccio is more reminiscent of the name of some Italian racing team, it is actually the last rally to take place before the cancelation and postponements of all races. Drivers and drivers chased the cars on March 22, a week after the Mexican event of the WRC, which had already received ambiguous comments about its going in a global quarantine context. So the author of this text has nothing left but to grab the dictionary of the Japanese language and delve deeper into those who dared to start the engines at the starting line.
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
Continue reading…Rally Legend ’19
Short post because the event that is described needs to be seen live. Black on white doesn’t present it well.
Continue reading…Rally Chumatskiy Shlyah ’19
In southern Ukraine, near Odesa, men last time gathered to finish Ukraine’s championship affairs at the Chumatskiy Shlyah rally. Like all the events, it was on gravel. Even though the weather was great at the rally time, previous weather conditions meant that you could distinguish a car only by its shape – color, sponsor stickers, and other design elements were hiding underneath a thick layer of dirt. In addition, several stages were canceled with a bunch of other organizational difficulties. Rally Chumatskiy Shlyah.
Continue reading…Niederösterreich Rallye ’19
Between Vienna and Linz, the fastest of the Austrian Rally gathered for the sixth round of the Austrian Rally Championship. Niederösterreich Rallye. There the main battles took place between the two crews, which chased each other throughout the season. One, then the other takes the victory, and the rest of the participants can only dream of a third position at best. Those two crews are 2016 champion Hermann Neubauer with Ford Fiesta R5 and young talent Julian Wagner with Škoda Fabia R5. Although Hermann has more victories, the unfinished opening event caused trouble for him, as he needed to chase Wagner whole season in terms of points. This Niederosterreich rally was won by Neubauer again, reducing the gap to 8 points. The Austrian champion will be revealed in the middle of November during the Rallye W4.
Continue reading…Hellendoorn Rally ’19
This time we will travel to the eastern part of the Netherlands, the Hellendoorn neighborhood, where the event of the Dutch Rally Championship takes place every year. 170 kilometers of stages were waiting for the participants. Although this rally is officially a tarmac event, crews have to sweat a lot to try to get their car on the gravel and sand. Not to mention when the rain comes. Roads run through villages and small towns, so from time to time, there are gravel roads. Also, drivers tend to cut corners heavily and the road gets dirty pretty quickly. Some drivers, intentionally or unintentionally, have the ability to cut a meter – another even through cornfields. And here’s a brief look at the Dutch Championship itself and the guest who has only missed one of this event in a decade.
Continue reading…
