Cross-Country Rally
Lithuanian crew 2010 season preview
Lithuanian crew to debut FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies After 12 years of competing in the national championships of rally and circuit racing, Lithuanian racer Benediktas Vanagas decided to make a step into international arena behind the ...
Edited: Mar 26, 2010, 3:25 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Lithuanian crew to debut FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies
After 12 years of competing in the national championships of rally and circuit racing, Lithuanian racer Benediktas Vanagas decided to make a step into international arena behind the wheel of a rally-raid vehicle. Despite of being new to this kind of sport along with co-driver Saulius Jurgeleeas they have already managed to reach surprising results. In last year's Dakar series "Silk Way Rally" crew finished fifth in T1.1 class and eighth overall, completing one of the stages right after factory "Volkswagen" rally-raid team.
"In first days we were gaining experience and fought for better starting order. But soon we showed what we can -- two days we were best in T1.1 and one day finished just after "VW" squadron. That was great, taking in consideration that we had one of the smallest teams in the race!", said Benediktas.
This year they make another step forward being the first Lithuanian crew to start in FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. First event starts in couple of days in the United Arab Emirates and is called "Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2010".
Lithuanian crew decided to choose "OSCar03" vehicle for "Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge". This car is T1 certified and made in Latvia.
"Last year we have tried "OSCar01" version and experienced that those cars can be fast. Of course, newer car version is better in all parameters like more powerful engine, better weight balance and hydraulic jacks"
"Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2010" starts on 27th of March with a short 2 km Super Special Stage. For the next five days the desert rallying will continue on the stages up to 300 kilometers long. The finish is on April 1st with more than 1.5 thousand special stage kilometers driven.
"Well known leaders will feel our breath. I promise it", Benediktas is smiling. "Anyhow our target is finish line and we will do our best to get maximum points in first 0x201eFIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies" event. We aim for TOP-5 position after the season.", he says.
Benediktas Vanagas and Saulius Jurgel0x45eeas also tried other disciplines, when finished second in "Ladoga Trophy" 4x4 marathon back in 2009. Benediktas Vanagas is the President of National Automobile Club of Lithuania and the organizer of "Winter Rally" which is an event of Lithuanian Rally Championship. He is also giving lots of his efforts in social activities to make roads safe.
-source: pitlane.lt
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article NZ Utes: Simon and Graham Beirne Timaru preview
Next article Australian GP: Ferrari preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Benediktas Vanagas
Toyota’s De Villiers, Ten Brinke and Lavieille finish second, sixth and seventh overall in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toyota’s De Villiers, Ten Brinke and Lavieille finish second, sixth and seventh overall in Dakar
Robb's Dakar ride: the end of the line
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Robb's Dakar ride: the end of the line
Barreda and Al-Attiyah win again
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Barreda and Al-Attiyah win again
Latest news
Manthey acknowledges IMSA to be "tougher than expected" despite two wins
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 5 h
Manthey acknowledges IMSA to be "tougher than expected" despite two wins
How a philosophy shift brought BMW to new heights in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 5 h
How a philosophy shift brought BMW to new heights in 2026
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship
ARCA
ARCA ARCA 7 h
Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe