“7bet Gravel Fest Rally – Lazdijai” – Vaidotas Žala’s triumph
The third stage of the Lithuanian automobile rally championship “7bet Gravel Fest Rally – Lazdijai” ended on Saturday in Lazdijai and its surroundings. Its winners were Vaidotas Žala and Ivo Pūkis.
SS5
In the fifth stage, Vaidotas Žala extended his dominance that started on the first day and won by 4 seconds advantage over Martynas Samsonas. The third time at the finish was recorded by Vladas Jurkevičius, who was 9 seconds behind the leader. Martins Sesks was fourth here, and Emils Blums was fifth.
SS6
In the sixth stage, the fastest was Martynas Samsonas, who was 2 seconds surpassed Giedrius Notkus. The third time was shown by Martins Sesks, who was 3.5 seconds behind the leader. At that time, Vaidotas Žala recorded only the fifth time here, 6.3 seconds behind the leader.
The racer revealed that he made the mistake of braking too late on this stage, which resulted in him having to take a bit of a ride on the meadows. This is the first stage in this rally when Vaidotas Žala was not the fastest.
The intrigue remains in the N5 car classification LARČ5. Here, after six stages, Rokas Steponavičius is leading, but his advantage over second-placed Nedas Radišauskas is only 0.75 seconds.
SS7
No surprises were recorded in the seventh SS. Here again V. Žala was the fastest. M. Samsonas lost to him by 6.6 seconds, G. Notkus came third, one second behind second place.
SS8
In the eighth special stage, the situation remained similar – V. Žala won again, 5.3 seconds behind him – M.Samsonas, V. Jurkevičius took third place this time, losing to the leader by just over 8 seconds.
SS9
Vaidotas Žala won the ninth stage again with Ivo Pūkis. They consolidated their lead over Martynas Samsonas with Ervinas Snitkas by adding another 4 seconds. The third time was shown by the Latvians: Martins Sesks and Renars Francis. They were 8 seconds behind the leaders. Later, due to the accident of Erikas and Robertas Valker’s, this speed section was stopped. Their Ford Fiesta just blocked the road.
SS10
V. Žala shone once again in the tenth SS. This time, M. Sesks established himself in the second place, who lost to the leader by 3 seconds. Third time with 4.8 seconds. V. Jurkevičius showed that he was lagging behind the leader. Behind the latter in just 0.05 seconds. G. Notkus remained. Only fifth this time is M.Samsonas.The Polish crew of Adrian Rzeznik and Adrian Sadowski, who started at number 12, had an accident in this SS. They rolled at the finish mark. By the way, they managed to record the seventh time in this stage, but this does not console the crew. The competition is over for them.
SS11
V. Žala drove the fastest again in the eleventh stage. G. Notkus was 2.3 seconds behind the leader, M. Sesks was half a second behind him and recorded the third time. There is one stage left to the finish line. Currently, V. Žala’s lead over the nearest pursuer M. Samsonas already reaches 50 seconds.
SS12
The last SS did not spark the sensations. Vaidotas Žala and Ivo Pūkis, who won it, secured the names of the winners of the “7bet Gravel Fest Rally – Lazdijai”. They beat Martynas Samsonas with Ervinas Snitkas by 59 seconds. Third place was won by Vladas Jurkevičius with Aisvydas Paliukėnas.