The third time this year for the Lithuanian crew in Estonia. This time, the history pages of Lithuanian and Estonian rallies have been rewritten.
Summarize last weekend
On Thursday, the day before the rally, we had tests in Latvia. Then we drove to Estonia where a reece was waiting for us on Friday. The rally was relatively short – only 82 km, so there was enough free time to analyze the pacenotes well. The goal was to attack because we already have enough kilometers in the car. We need to speed up now.
What was the reaction of Estonians when they saw your speed? Still, a rare guest wins an Estonian special stage, especially when driving it for the first time.
We didn’t talk much with the locals, but a few said our speed was really good. And I value it similarly because we took this rally for the first time, the special stages are specific, and other drivers are really fast. These results in the stages were quite gratifying.
Which gravel is more acceptable to you? Dry or wet?
There is no difference anymore. It is important that the road is the same for everyone. I mean several crews would not drive on dry ground and the rest would be on wet. We rode on wet gravel in one of the tests, then Rokiškis rally and now in Louna Eesti. So we have experience in these conditions, the grip on wet gravel is also good, so it’s not scary. However, I would like dry roads for rest rallies in Lithuania, as competitors’ cars are more powerful, which gives a huge advantage on the wet gravel.
You have been with the SRT team for almost a year now. What can you tell us about the team and the people who work there?
The team is really very high level. Especially mechanics. I really don’t have any plans to change the team. I’m happy with it and I’m not really using all of their knowledge about car tuning yet. That will be the goal for next year.
Positivity, even in difficult situations is fascinating. What other qualities help you reach heights not only in rallying, but also in business or personal life?
Positivity and looking at everything with a long-term perspective. Rallying is a tough sport and it takes a lot of time and work to achieve something. Exactly the same principles apply in business. It’s fun when I can realize myself in both areas – when something is harder going in one, I get inspiration from the other and vice versa.
You mentioned that you reduce the amount of information in the pacenotes. What information has decreased?
I meant to reduce the amount of information that Aisvydas reads in advance. We don’t simplify the pacenotes, just Aisvydas is reading it later so it takes up less space in my mind and I can concentrate on one turn and pass it as well as possible.
Three things you learned / perceived
- We are already driving at a speed where the slightest corrections of the steering wheel can lead to many things. After this rally (not because of the accident situation) I realized that I needed to turn in more precisely.
- It must be understood that sometimes road ruts will form in a different place than I hope. At the scene of our crash, I had written a slightly different trajectory in pacenotes. The speed was right for my trajectory and everything was fine the first time I rode the stage. For the second time, another 90 participants had passed and drove in the turn too early. Despite the fact that the road had made the wrong trajectory because of other participants, I was still driving at my own speed – and you have seen the consequences. Next time I will need to keep in mind that when driving stage for a second time, the trajectories after all may not be quite correct.
- Just once again I was convinced that the rain was really nothing terrible 😊
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Photos – Pashazhukovpic
