The region of Mažeikiai is waiting for the rally celebration – “Orlen Lietuva Rally 2022”
Corrected date is not a problem
The head of the club, Vitalijus Plastininas, admits that the tense situation in the world also had an impact on the rally, which will take place mostly in the vicinity of Viekšniei. The race was originally planned to take place at the beginning of the summer, but later had to choose another date. “The forced change of date has adjusted our plans, but we hope that athletes and rally fans will enjoy spending two days in our country. Forecasters promise hot weather, and the diverse situation in the standings of the classes of the Lithuanian Rally Championship guarantees hot emotions in the speed sections. After the recent rally in Žemaitija, the crews really want to be in a sporty shape and prepare to fight for every meter of the track,” says the main organizer of the race.
“ORLEN Lietuva Rally” participants will have to overcome a high-speed section on Friday, and after the ceremonial opening of the rally at 8 p.m. Mazeikiai will go to the first speed section of the race. Its length is only 3.72 km, it will be the shortest section in the rally. As athletes often like to say, you won’t win the race in it, but taking too many risks can be very expensive on the first night. The first car will start at 20:00. 20 minutes, so there will be enough light for all the crews and the race car mechanics will not be able to install the lights.
On Saturday – all sections twice
A total of 13 stages are planned for the rally. Saturday from 9 a.m. 30 athletes in the extension fight: initially they will have sections of 6.78 km, 6.8 km and 8.35 km. At the same speed, the athletes will have to cover the second time by noon – from 11:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., respectively. and 12:35 p.m.
After lunch and a service break, there are 6 more speed sections waiting for the athletes: the bus runs two sections of 9.27 km, 6.74 km and 9.63 km. The first cars in them at 3:00 p.m. and 3:40 p.m. respectively. and 3:05 p.m., and the winners of the rally will be determined when the crews complete the sections at the same speed a second time – from 4:50 p.m., 5:30 p.m., respectively. and 5:55 p.m. The crews will return to Viekšniaus around 18:00. 30 minutes
There will be no shortage of speed and difficult turns
Mažeikių ASK invites all rally enthusiasts to free competitions: traditionally, on the gravel roads of this region, crews can demonstrate a very high average speed, but must not lose concentration.
Race commissioner Edvinas Vašteris says that all speed sections of “ORLEN Lietuva rally” will require maximum concentration. For the athletes, the organizers offer one very high-speed stretch: although the race in this region has a long history, the organizers keep finding these unused roads. The direction of several other speed sections is the opposite, so drivers and co-drivers will definitely have a hard time.
In 2021, fans of the rally could see the extremely exciting battle of the crew of Vaidotas Žala, Martynas Samsons and the Ukrainian Valery Gorbans. V. Žala overtook M. Samsons by only 5.9 seconds, while the guests from Ukraine, who took third place, were just 4.5 seconds behind the latter.
Almost 60 crews registered
Almost 60 crews have already registered for the rally, where we will fight for the very important points of the Lithuanian championship. Among the participants are almost all the most capable rally racers of our country and guests from Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine.
Among the participants, we will see the most successful Lithuanian crews, Dominykas Butvilas and Renatas Vaitkevičius, who appeared two weeks ago, Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydas Paliukėnas will definitely challenge them, Giedrius Notkus, Martynas Samsonas are driving Škoda Fabia R5, but this is one of the most popular races in Lithuania. , and a solid group of crews driving Mitsubishi Lancer cars of various generations will not be inclined to go down either.
Justas Tamašauskas, who won the Žemaitija rally, chose the two-wheeled vehicle, while the Latvian Janis Vorobjovas, who usually doesn’t want to give up the first places easily, was in competition with Neds Radišauskas, Renaldas Šeinauskas and a few dozen other crews.
The organizers of the rally hope that several thousand motor sports fans from Lithuania and Latvia will come to watch the event. They will not need to buy tickets – the event will be free this year as well. After a good mood in the speed sections of the race, all spectators are invited to visit Viekšnii on Saturday evening, where not only the award for the fastest crews, but also a concert will be held on the summer stage.