After a short break, the action returns to Portugal, where the Rali Vieira do Minho will take place in the north of the country. This rally differs from the last two, where Martynas Samsonas competed with Ervinas Snitkas, as this event is not part of the main Portuguese Rally Championship, but is part of the Portuguese Promo Championship, where N5 cars compete as the main category. This means that the format of the rally and other nuances are slightly different from Fafe and Algarve, such as the total distance of the rally and that there will be no qualifying stage. There will also change in the crew – for this rally, Ugnius Vainevičius will take place in the co-driver seat. There will also be fewer R5/Rally2 cars, but more N5 cars than at previous events. We will see the usual 4 N5 cars of Martynas Samsonas (Škoda Fabia N5), Adruzilo Lopes (Škoda Fabia N5), Miguel Carvalho (Hyundai i20 N5) and Joao Araujo (Ford Fiesta N5). These cars will be joined by 3 other N5 cars – Rui Borges (Citroen C3 N5), Ricardo Marques (Peugeot 208 N5) and Henrique Moniz (Toyota Yaris N5).
The rally itself begins on Friday with a 12.91 km long Nascente do Ave stage, which is driven twice and separated by a regroup zone. On Saturday, five more special stages are on the programme: two classic stages over 10.67 km and 15.17 km will be run twice as well as a short 1.89 km blast over the Super Especial Vieira do Minho. After the end of the rally, the crews will once again drive through the streets of Vieira do Minho, but only for show purposes.
This event is best known for the Lithuanian crew, as Martynas and Ervinas competed here in 2021 and 2022 with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX prepared by Domingos Sport and powered by Samsonas Motorsport. In 2021, the Lithuanian crew won all 6 stages and took their first victory in Portugal. Martynas was faster than Adrzuzilo Lopes, who also drove the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Now both Martynas and Adrzuzilo drive a Škoda Fabia N5.
Martynas Samsonas and Ervinas Snitkas at Rally Casinos do Algarve
