There Will Be Novelties This Year As Well

Kelmė Automobile Sports Club (“Kelmė ASK”) for the 12th time now is organizing the competition on fast and technically interesting roads of Žemaitija. The Head of “Kelmė ASK”  Ingrida Savickienė says that every year we want to introduce some novelties in the event: “This year, we will try to create the possibility for the racers to find out who among them is the fastest on speed circuits of various configurations. We have cancelled the city stage and night races - the events of 2024 prompted us to make additional investments towards the safety of rally and ensure the maximum comfort and safety for the spectators, while for the racers - create a possibility to compete without any fears”, - states the rally organizer.

“Rally Žemaitija” is always a big festivity for the entire region, which is why, this year as well, the townies and rally fans coming to Kelmė will be able not only to enjoy the race. On the eve of the rally, on the main stage of the event, the talks of never-before-seen format will be held with the rally “family”. “Very often, the top contenders of the common or separate categories of rally rankings are invited to appear on the stage, and less attention is paid to those racers who compete in categories of weaker technology, we also tend to forget a bit the mechanics, team managers, strategists... Which is why, we decided to invite the teams during this year’s introduction of "Rally Žemaitija" so that everyone would not only see the drivers or co-drivers, but also those very important team members that take care of the logistics, management, financing of the team, repairs, and maintenance of technology. We think that this will also be an additional stimuli for the teams to prepare their introductions on how they strategize and put all the pieces of the rally “puzzle””, - tells I. Savickienė.

Also, after the presentation of the teams, on Friday evening, part of the crews will try their strength in "Shakedown" near Kelmė.

There Will Be 10 Special Stages During the Rally

The sportsmen have always called the roads of Žemaitija region as exceptional. One of their feature is their width and speed. The other feature - the organizers are capable of “intertwining” the speed courses in such a way that the crews would be forced to show all their mastership.

Clerk of the Course deputy Edvinas Vašteris says that it is difficult to find new roads at Kelmė environs: “However, we still try to offer something new to the racers: we add something at the start and/or at the finish line, we rotate the driving directions; for example, we did that last year”, - says one of the strategists of the competition.

The race will start on Saturday at 09:30 AM from the shortest speed stage, which is only 4.55 km. Afterwards, the crews will have to beat the second speed stage, which is the longest - 17.11 km. After a short break-stop in Kražiai, the same two special stages will await the crews.

After the lunch-break in Kelmė, a relatively short rally strip will await the racers - the 5th speed stage of 8.1 km length, and afterwards - significantly longer speed stage of 14.09 km length. The crews will have to pass the same tracks twice.

The crews will drive the 9th and 10th speed stages at once: a 9.94 km length speed section (the current configuration of this section last time was held a long time ago, so this section will be very interesting and maybe new for someone), and the last section of the rally, of 14.56 km long, will start around at 7:00 PM. It will be “Power Stage”, in which the crews may earn additional points for his results. Because the surface of the last two sections is somewhat softer, it is a reason, why the crews will pass them only once.

The fastest rally crews should finish at approximately 08:00 PM in Kelmė. The total length of 10 speed courses will be 112 km and total rally distance will be approximately 315 km.

Last year won the crew of G. Notkus and D. Strižanas

This year’s Samogitia Rally is the second stage of Lithuania’s Rally Championship. However, the festive aura of the event, as per tradition, invites to Kelmė environs the representatives of foreign countries. For Polish racers this is a unique experience to drive on fast and technical gravel roads. Latvians like this competition due to its compactness and short distance from their own country. Often, young racers from other countries acquire the licences from the Latvian Automobile Sports Federation, which is why it is very much expected to see 15-17 years old rising stars: In the past, Finland rally celebrity Kalle Rovanpera, now 24 years old, have tried their hand in Kelmė.

Without a doubt, uncompromising battle will happen also this year on all special stages. Last year, Vaidotas Žala begin the rally the fastest, however, at the start of the second day, the many-times-winner retired from competition (last year, the rally lasted for two days). Due to technical difficulties, Martynas Samsonas was forced to stop on the fifth speed stage.

After retirement of the two top contenders, Giedrius Notkus was the one to take-up the leader’s position. Giedrius Notkus and Dalius Strižanas with their car “Škoda Fabia R5” at the finish line was faster than Vladas Jurkevičius and Aisvydas Paliukėnas by 10 seconds. In the overall standings of last year, Rokas Steponavičius and Dovydas Ketvirtis took third place.

In the middle of June, we will wait automobile sports enthusiasts in “Rally “Žemaitija 2025”. Ticket to all speed stages will cost 15 Euros.