The weather conditions did not allow any tests before the rally. So was it easy to understand how the N5 suspension works in a BMW car on frozen gravel/ice at a competitive pace straight away?
Yes, we had no tests, not even the smallest ones. But there is no need to understand anything at my age on this point 🙂 Moreover, the car is not worse but better, so everything is 100 times easier, smoother, better, and faster.
And the lack of tests made things harder. It went a bit badly at the beginning, but after that, you can laugh about everything 🙂
Since there were no tests or anything, I made a mistake. I always plan everything carefully, time, places, things, procedures, etc. But as they say, even the best make mistakes :))))))) In short, there were still 20 minutes until the TC0. We sat down to drive and I realized that I did not have my special headphone in one ear. Since I can not hear in one ear, I use a plug, like in some circuit races. I was getting a lot of stress. I found an old cable, one of those from the cross-racing days, but it did not work very well – I could not hear anything well. I panicked a bit and got to TC0 3 seconds late and got a penalty. When I went to the start, I could not adjust to better hearing 🙂 At some point, I kind of opened my mouth wide and realized I could hear better 🙂 Well, I told to my co-driver Ervinas – I will drive with my mouth wide open 🙂 That’s how it was. And somehow it did not work out too badly 🙂
Why did you decide to take part in the Estonian championship in a BMW E36 M3?
Well, that’s a clear decision. In the Estonian championship, up to 20 cars gather in the EMV6 class. The first five are quite fast, the first few cars are absolutely very fast. That’s one reason. Another reason is that we want to show ourselves in Estonia and Finland. As our BMW in Finland does not meet the requirements for the main championship, then only Estonia remained. In addition, one of the Estonian events will take place in Finland.
The third reason is that we worked out this plan with co-driver Ervinas Snitkas when there were no thoughts about the Lithuanian championship with the Subaru Impreza N14. That’s why we have to go 🙂
What does the Alūksnė rally look like? The organization, the roads?
All our Baltic rallies are good. We know ourselves how much work has to be invested, and we know how much they have worked. Organizing a rally, small or big, is not easy and it is not a ‘business’ as it may seem to someone. I call such people, the organizers, a little sick because they do everything knowing that it will be extremely difficult, that they will be blamed for everything anyway, but they do it anyway because there is a group of people who really need it.
Alūksne is always a high-quality, maybe I would say simple, but good rally. Charming because it’s winter. The stages are faster this year, fast but twisty, there are no straights, but the speeds are high. For me personally, they are fabulous – they suited us and the car. Ervinas said that he did not even see the road, only when turning pacenotes pages he looked with one eye at the GPS on the cell phone, and it always says the same thing – 199 km/h :)))
The name www.RallyLithuania.com appeared in the applications from you and other Samsonas Motorsport crews. Why?
We have been dreaming about the www.RallyLithuania.com project for a long time, but we quickly brought it to life last fall when we were all sitting here in base. The idea is so simple and beautiful – to put together concentrated information about the Lithuanian rally. It’s also good for locals, but I think it’s very good for foreigners who want to come here to rally, gather information, and plan everything.
There was no big project done under the team’s name. We took care of the paperwork and applications as every year. And anyway, I told Ervinas that Samsonas Motorsport is already boring. We are doing Rallylithuania.com. We will do a good job for Lithuania. That’s it. 🙂
Where else do you want to go, apart from the Lithuanian and Estonian championship events?
Well, as I write this, it’s probably already clear that Biorina Winter Rally Rokiškis is moving to next date. We will see when that will be.
On February 1, the second Estonian event will take place in Otepaa. That’s where we want to go.
On February 8, there is a small rally near Jyvaskyla, Finland, called Toivakka Ralli. We will be going there because our dealer Jukka Hara will also be taking part, and we are sponsors of this rally.
At the end of February Samsonas Rally Fivemiletown. I absolutely have to go there too. We have a long journey ahead of us, but since we have already promised everyone there, we have to be there.
The 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri, USA, takes place on March 14. We still have a score to settle there 🙂
We are already planning to come to Paul Ferreira at Samsonas USA base a good week before the rally. We want to test the BMW E36 M3 for one day in Kentucky, then return to base, rebuild the car, and drive 1200km to St. Louis, where the 100AW rally will take place.