The Arctic Lapland Rally ended on the first weekend of February, with two of the three Lithuanian crews using N5 cars. Several hundred kilometers at special stages on day and night, many more liaisons in between, huge snowbanks with stuck cars in them, enormous snowfall and a number of other nuances specific to this rally. Linas Vaškys with Laurynas Paškevičius and the Škoda Fabia N5+ and Tomas Šmagarys with Kristian Sohlberg and the Hyundai i20 N5 tried to master them.
The first day of the rally with 75 kilometers of special stages was dual for the Lithuanians. Linas and Laurynas, who were in 45th place after the first kilometers, were able to improve their position late on Friday evening and finished 35th. As their Škoda Fabia N5+ only meets the national requirements, no matter how well they drive, they only start at the very end of the rally field. Therefore, it is much more difficult to show the result as the road conditions are worse.
Tomas Šmagarys and Kristian Sohlberg had a much better starting position, as their Hyundai i20 N5 complies with Finnish SM5 regulations, so they were much better placed – 42nd. Tomas and Kristian drove really well, and on a short, 3.69 km stage of Maentyvaara 1 they even swapped seats with Kristian behind the wheel on that stage. Unfortunately, the international team had to retire on the fourth stage.
As dawn broke, Saturday promised to be a long one – 125 kilometers in one day is quite a lot. But this Saturday turned out to be very short for one crew – Tomas and Kristian, who returned with the super rally rule, retired in the very first special stage. Braking too late resulted in the car flying into a huge snowbank, from which there was no escape. Linas Vaškys and Laurynas Paškevičius also had a slightly different and happier end. The two also failed to stay on the road on the second stage on Saturday and got stuck in the snow. However, the men from Lithuania were serious and prepared, so the Lithuanians used their experience and a saw to lever and free their Škoda Fabia N5+ and drive on. This operation took about half an hour, because there were no spectators around, so the Lithuanians had to do it themselves. In this way, Linas and Laurynas finished the Arctic Lapland Rally for the first time, although not quite the way they wanted to.
There was another Lithuanian crew in the Arctic – N5 Lithuania godfather Martynas Samsonas with new navigator Ugnius Vainevičius. The two successfully reached the finish in the Arctic in a simple BMW 328i E46. Why not the championship winner – Škoda Fabia N5? The red Škoda is currently being prepared for the spring season in Portugal, where it will soon be heading. Martynas Samsonas will compete with an updated livery Škoda Fabia N5 in the first four events of the Portuguese Promo Championship, which will be held on gravel. Competition for the Lithuanian in the south will not only be the well-known Portuguese rally drivers, but also Briton Kris Meeke, who has spent several years in the World Rally Championship. It will be fun. The first event – the Rally Serras de Fafe – will take place on February 23 and 24 on the legendary Portuguese WRC special stages at Fafe.
Until then, we are waiting for two N5 cars in Latvia, at the Sarma Rally. Vaidotas Paškevičius with Dalius Strižanas and Ford Fiesta N5 and guests from Finland – Saku Vierimaa with Mika Rajasalo and Peugeot 208 N5 plans to go there.
| Driver | Co-driver | Car | Team | Class | Time | Overall | Class | |||
 | Linas Vaškys | | Laurynas Paškevičius |  | Škoda Fabia N5+ | ORLEN Lietuva-Mažeikių ASK | 9 | Waiting for official times | – | – |
| Tomas Šmagarys |  | Kristian Sohlberg |  | Hyundai i20 N5 | Autoralis ASK | SM5 | DNF | – | – |
