More than 1,006 km of racing will have more horse power
Over the course of almost three decades, the “Press rally” has grown from a fun ride for journalists to an international, high-level amateur race and is a unique event in the Lithuanian motor sports calendar. Although it does not belong to any championship, the participants do not go here to collect points: broadly speaking, it is just a single weekend race. They attract an exclusive audience with even more exclusive cars. All participants’ places here are filled in just a few days. Almost 90 crews have registered for the event, which will take place from May 31 to June 1 this year. Their car fleet will surprise many.
BMW models were once the most popular in motorsport, now they are being replaced by Porsche. The luxury sports car brand will reign supreme at this year’s Press Rally, with a total of 11 Porsche models, including the latest and fastest 911 GT3 RS. This is not the first year that the Toyota Yaris GR will participate in this rally for the homologation of the World Rally Championship: as many as 6 of them will race. RS” lines: the latest RS3, RS6 models.
One competitor is considering swapping his M Series BMW for a Ferrari in the rally. If, after practicing at the Nemunas Ring, he is convinced that it will be comfortable to drive such a powerful and wide car on slow-moving tracks, there is a good chance that we will see a real supercar for the first time.
The only place where it is safe and exciting with an exclusive car
“For me, this is the most high-quality motor sports event of the year. Lots of concentrated action, fascinating tracks and interesting cars. If we compare it with the alternatives, the differences are like in the palm of your hand: for example, in slalom or “Street Race” there is only one track where you spend the whole day, while in “Press Rally” you try 20 different tracks over two days. They are adapted for better cars, with which it would be a shame to drive elsewhere: where there is a greater risk of crashing or breaking them”, explained Vytautas, who has experience in both A-League rallies and amateur competitions, and usually comes to the “Press Rally” in fast BMW cars .
The Lithuanian mini rally championship moved to gravel, so the “Press rally” remained the only rally-format event for amateurs taking place on asphalt. Organizers choose safer, better condition tracks, competitions are held on city streets, autodromes, kartdromes.
“I think the Press Rally is safer than other events. It’s interesting because there are a lot of races to overcome: you never know what’s going to happen next. There is no one-size-fits-all car for an event like this: some tracks will favor fast and powerful supercars, while others will favor small, weaker and nimble hatchbacks, so you can race with what you have and enjoy the race. It will be interesting and there will be enough competition”, explained Porsche enthusiast Vytas Bilinskas, who should be blamed for the popularity of this brand at the event.
“Press rally” is distinguished by the variety of tracks: from fast circular sections, airfields, where the powerhouses of Porsche, Audi RS or BMW M can be revealed in all their beauty, to narrow slaloms, where big and wide cars can be left behind by little ones like Mazda MX-5″. There are also a lot of medium-speed autodromes and kartdromes where you have to work harder with the steering wheel than with the pedals.
Which car is the best?
Although, as Vytas Bilinskas said, there are no universal machines that are suitable for everything, the popularity of one model is not inevitable. It is not the first year that you can pay attention to the abundance of Toyota GR Yaris here. This year, there will be as many as 6 such all-wheel drive, powerful, but small hot hatchbacks, designed to meet the homologation requirements of the World Rally Championship.
“This car is adapted for such competitions. It is quite light, fast, all-wheel drive, and has a normal handbrake. It’s not cheap, but for that price, it’s very good, considering how it was designed, how many interesting solutions have been applied to it and how much has been invested in it,” explained the winner of the Press Rally three years ago with the GR Yaris. Dainius Leonavičius. This year he will return to the helm of this icon. By the way, this will be the 15th start with Toyota brand cars for this experienced journalist.
There will be a place to feast your eyes
There will also be many of these Japanese cars, and not just the GR Yaris models. In the Press classification, Matas Buzelis will compete with an extremely fast MR2, Antanas Akučka will race with the new Toyota GR86. It will be possible to see the new, significantly changed, sportier Prius at the race.
Looking at the list of participants, the attention is drawn to the new A-Class Mercedes-AMG pocket rocket of Kęstutis Taškūnas, an experienced Wolf of the Press Rally, while the fierce modern hot hatchbacks Honda Civic Type-R, Hyundai i30 N, The Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R battle, and the Renault Megane RS will also appear. Of course, it will also be possible to see the legends of the rally – Subaru WRX STi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Ford Mustang and Lexus IS F will surprise with V8 roar.
“10 years ago, I would have said that a small and nimble car is most suitable for the Press Rally, because there were a lot of slaloms back then. I used to win races with a Nissan Almera GTI against much more powerful rivals. Now the tracks have become faster, there are fewer twisted slaloms, the opportunities to perform well in the “Press Rally” have opened up for all cars”, explained D. Leonavičius, why the range of participants has expanded so much.
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2024-05-04 02:00:35