The first qualification took place under very difficult conditions – the track was soaked with rain, and there was a lot of standing water on the surface. In the second race, the Lithuanian, who started from third position, dropped to fourth place in the first corner but chose the “Joker” lap already in the first lap. This tactical decision paid off – Baciuška regained positions and finished second, behind only the Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud.
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Baciuška completed the four-lap distance in 3 min. 0.894 sec. and was 0.835 sec. behind the race winner. In the overall Q1 standings, the Lithuanian took 18th place, scored 26 points, and was 8.994 sec. behind the session winner, Finn Juha Rytkönen.
In the second qualification, the track was already dry, and Baciuška showed a better reaction at the start. In the third race, he arrived at the first corner in second place, but soon got into a close battle with the Swede Casper Jansson. After a few corners, the Lithuanian regained second position and held it until the finish.
The judges reviewed the episode where the drivers’ cars made contact and decided not to continue the investigation – no penalty was given to Baciuška.
Baciuška finished the Q2 race second in 2 min. 41.929 sec., and in the overall second qualification standings took ninth place. He was 3.566 sec. behind the fastest, Bakkerud, and added 35 points to his tally.
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“The first qualification was difficult – the track was very wet, and the start did not go as I wanted. However, the early choice of the “Joker” lap paid off, and we finished the race second.
In the second qualification, the conditions were completely different: the track was dry, the start was better, and we had a close battle on the track. The pace is improving, we rose to ninth place in Q2, but we still have room to improve. Now the most important thing is to maintain this progress in the third qualification,” commented Rokas Baciuška on the day’s events.
After two qualifications, Baciuška has 61 points and ranks 13th among the 30 RX1 class participants. The qualification leader Juha Rytkönen has scored 90 points. On Saturday, the athletes will face the third qualification, and on Sunday the fourth, along with quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.
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