Sirmacis and Kulšs claim dominant class win at Rokiškis Rally

This year's Rokiškis Rally in Lithuania carried extra weight, serving not only as a round of the Lithuanian championship but also as the eighth round of the European Rally Trophy (ERT) and the fourth round of the "TER – Tour European Rally" series. Six stages were held on the opening day, Friday, while Saturday's schedule featured a further eleven special stages. The total competitive distance amounted to 134.3 kilometers.

Sirmacis/Kulšs dominate LARČ6

Latvia's Andris Sirmacis and Kaspars Kulšs, this season's leaders in the LARČ6 class, arrived with new machinery, switching from their previous Subaru to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII for the first time this year. They faced virtually no resistance within their class, topping all seventeen special stages outright. On the rally's second day the crew also climbed from 12th to 11th place in the overall standings, while cruising to a commanding class victory.

Second in LARČ6 went to Guntis Lielkājis and Zane Lielkāja-Gerika (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), who finished nearly five minutes behind, while Kārlis Folkmanis and Gundars Pečaks (also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) rounded out the podium with a deficit approaching ten minutes.

Žala's crew wins overall

In the overall classification, the crew led by Žala was fastest on the second day, winning seven of the eleven Saturday stages and seizing the lead during the morning loop from Deivids Gezevičs (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2), who ultimately finished 16 seconds adrift. Third place went to Roks Steponavičs (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 43 seconds behind the winner, followed by Justs Tamašausks (Hyundai i20 Proto) in fourth and Polish driver Aron Domżała (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) completing the top five. Žala's crew also topped both the ERT and TER standings.

Among two-wheel-drive entries, Estonian driver Markus Tammoja (BMW M3 E36) was quickest, with Giedrjus Notkus (BMW M3 E46) trailing by 33 seconds. Darjus Sukackas (BMW M3 E46 Compact) took third in the category.