“Halls Winter Rally” – the fastest winter festival successfully finished in Utena region on January 29th. The event has attracted a record number of participants and spectators and gave a start to both: Lithuanian and Latvian championships. It also became a part of Baltic Winter Rally Cup 2011. Pace was set by Latvian crews: Andis Neiksans won the event, his brother Maris was second and Janis Feldmanis finished third. Dominykas Butvilas became the first overall among Lithuanians, winning seven seconds against Martynas Samsonas and Rokas Lipeikis who recorded exactly the same results, driving 115 kilometres of special stages in exactly the same time: 1 hour, 5 minutes and 47,5 seconds.

The international event is becoming more and more popular – this year the race attracted participants from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia. 97 crews made it to the start, ready to show their speed on the interesting and demanding special stages. Great number of competitors testified a new Lithuanian winter rally record from year 1994 when the rally was held for the first time.

A big number of crews had attracted crowds of spectators who came to watch the competition. According to the rally organiser Benediktas Vanagas, it is great to know that more than fifty thousand spectators acted orderly and there were no incidents registered during the rally. B.Vanagas participated in the rally himself as well, where he drove for “Subaru Pitlane Rally Team”, which was ranked first in the team order after the finish.

The first special stage showed that Latvian competitors are ready for the battle and stormed the leading positions at once. Lithuanians tried to catch their neighbours, however they were pursued by misfortunes: Vytautas Švedas car engine stalled on the very first special stage. Shortly, few more quick Lithuanian racers retired from the event. Deividas Jocius and Ramūnas Čapkauskas were also misfortunate. The latter crashed on one of the special stages, and it was the first his roll in his whole sports career.

Martynas Samsonas, Dominykas Butvilas and Rokas Lipeikis have been left to keep pace with the Latvians and to defend Lithuanian honour. At the finish the victory among them was snatched by Dominykas Butvilas and Renatas Vaitkevičius crew, while, according to the rules due to results on the first special stage, Martynas Samsonas and Rokas Lipeikis were considered second and third respectively.

During a press conference after the rally, crews complimented each other, rally organisers and Utena region, where twelve special stages were situated. According to the participants, special stages were a complex of fast, twisty, wide and narrow sections – excellent for showing the skills.

68 crews made it to the “Halls Winter Rally 2011” finish. The rally continues its traditions and it will be held in Utena region next year on the last weekend of January again.

Top ten “Halls Winter Rally“ crews (official results):

1.Andis Neikšans/Peters Dzirkals (Latvia) 1 hour 4 min. 10,2 sec.
2.Maris Neikšans/Ringolds Berzinš (Latvia) + 21,5 sec.
3.Janis Feldmanis/Anrijs Jesse (Latvia) +57,3 sec.
4.Martinš Svilis/Aivis Aizsilnieks (Latvia) +1 min. 2,2 sec.
5.Dominykas Butvilas/Renatas Vaitkevičius (Lithuania) +1 min. 29,7 sec.
6.Martynas Samsonas/Mindaugas Varža (Lithuania) +1 min. 37,0 sec.
7.Rokas Lipeikis/Inga Lipeikytė (Lithuania) +1 min. 37,0 sec.
8.Aivis Egle/Martinš Jerums (Latvia) +1 min. 47,9 sec.
9.Martynas Samuitis/Ramūnas Šaučikovas (Lithuania) +2 min. 22,4 sec.
10.Audrius Višniauskas/Edvinas Pagirskas (Lithuania) +2 min. 25,4 sec.

Rally results and other information:
Official “Halls Winter Rally 2011” website: www.hallswinterrally.lt
Lithuanian automobile sports federation: www.lasf.lt