This year, the “Press Rally” was held for the 31st time, bringing together 85 crews from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. Over two days, participants covered a route from Vilnius through Molėtai, Anykščiai, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Kuršėnai, and Klaipėda to the finish in Nida. Here, journalists, car enthusiasts, athletes, classic car lovers, and electric vehicle drivers meet on one track, and the battles for seconds are often very intense, according to a press release.
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For Adomas, this rally was special not only because of the prize-winning place. He has been participating in the “Press Rally” since he was twelve, when he first became a co-driver for his father.
“When I started and finished the rally at twelve, it feels like I became a man over that weekend. I overcame very big fear barriers. And being a co-driver for my father is a separate craft, requiring huge responsibility, despite everything being new. I will always be grateful to my father for that, because to this day I can’t think of a better expression of trust than offering the co-driver’s seat to your seventh-grade son,” recalls A. Grinius.
It was then that his love for rallying began, which has not let go to this day. At nineteen, he made his debut behind the wheel himself, and this year’s start was his fourteenth in total and fifth as a driver.
“That first rally really hooked me. I was waiting for the chance to start myself. I finished fourth several times, and now we finally had a fun, competitive car and managed to get on the winners’ podium,” says the TV show host, who raced together with Rimvydas Strazdas in the crew “LNKiam visus”.
This year, A. Grinius and R. Strazdas completed the routes in a “Toyota C-HR” car. As Adomas himself jokes, the LNK logo displayed on the car added extra horsepower to the crew. Adomas’s father Mindaugas raced with an identical car.
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“We are very, very happy because we managed to win a prize place with one of my closest friends, for whom all this was also new. Besides, we even overtook my father, although we were driving the same cars,” he smiles.
Although in everyday life A. Grinius lives with sports news and follows various sports, rally holds a special place in his heart.
“I have followed motorsport all my life. In general, I watch almost all sports, but rally and racing are an old love. It is a very expensive sport, so it is difficult to drive seriously, but returning to the ‘Press Rally’ tracks once a year is just fantastic,” says the face of LNK.
The prize place won this year became another proof for A. Grinius that his old love for motorsport is not fading at all.
“Good evening, Lithuania” with Adomas Grinius – Mondays to Fridays at 5:30 PM on LNK.
