Lithuanians arrive in Spain after winning the FIA European Baja Cup stage in Poland and leading both the overall cup standings and the “Ultimate” category. In the overall standings, B. Vanagas has 216 points, leading Portuguese Paulo Rodrigues by eight points.
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However, the season math is not that simple – the final standings count the six best results out of eight stages, and P. Rodrigues has currently completed one stage less. Therefore, the fight for the season title remains completely open.
“Spain has really shaken things up this year – due to postponed races, many plans had to be changed. But we are in the championship game, so every point is important now. That means we are heading to Spain. It seems that not only very strong competition awaits us there, but also a lot of warmth. It will be hot in every sense,” says B. Vanagas, who achieved the highest result in the Dakar cars “Ultimate” category among Baltic athletes.
Although the date change reduced the number of participants, the competition remains at the highest level. The car start list includes 67 crews, of which 58 will compete in the FIA classification. As many as 26 crews will start in the most powerful “Ultimate” category.
Among the most prominent “Ultimate” participants are Yazeed Al-Rajhi, 2024 “Baja España Aragón” winner Guillaume de Mévius, last year’s winner João Ferreira, this year’s “Italian Baja” winner Francisco Barreto, Saood Variawa, and other strong rally raid drivers.
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For B. Vanagas, this will be the third start at “Baja España Aragón.” Last year, the Lithuanian finished eighth overall and second among FIA European Baja Cup participants.
The athletes in Spain will face 488.68 km of special stages and more than 810 km of total route. On Friday, the competition will start with a 6.48 km prologue, on Saturday they will have to cover more than 330 sporting kilometers, and on Sunday – the final 151 km special stage.
“Baja España Aragón” will be the fifth FIA European Baja Cup start this season for B. Vanagas and A. Paliukėnas. The main task for the “Gurtam TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Baltics” team in Spain is to bring back as many championship points as possible and maintain the leader position before the decisive part of the season.
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