There was a short break between two Samsonas Motorsport team visits in Portugal. The team returned from the Algarve just a few weeks ago and this weekend visited the Rali Vieira do Minho in the north of Portugal. The legendary stages of the WRC Portugal awaited the crews, but things didn’t go as planned as torrential rain combined with strong winds washed everything away. The organizers were forced to shorten two stages for safety reasons. Some crews even withdrew before the start of the rally.
The rally began late on Friday afternoon with two shortened stages. Very wet and muddy roads were best handled by Martynas Samsonas and Ugnius Vainevičius in their Samsonas Motorsport-powered Škoda Fabia N5. Saturday showed no mercy when it came to the weather and the crews had a really tough time dealing with the muddy conditions in the very demanding 5 stages. There were many retirements, but still Martynas Samsonas together with Ugnius Vainevičius worked like clockwork and managed to win all Saturday stages and win the rally with a two-minute lead. The Samsonas Motorsport team repeated the history of 2021. Second place went to their colleagues Miguel Carvalho and Antonio Reis in the Hyundai i20 N5, also equipped with Samsonas gearbox and dampers.
The rally ended with a special stage for the spectators, after which the award ceremony took place. The organizers of the Rali Vieira do Minho had offered a cash prize for the winners, but the Lithuanian crew donated it to the Vieira do Minho fire department.
