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No clues the same
Participants in “Autoaibė Lower Lithuania – Perimeters” often do not even have access to SUVs. The almost 2,000 km long “Adventure” test track runs the length of the Lithuanian border section, participants travel in locations along the poles that mark the border of the Republic of Lithuania.
Driving so close to the Belarusian-Russian border is prohibited without a permit from the State Border Guard. So, competition participants must see corners of Lithuania that no one else will see. And the image and the roads change every year.
The perimeter has never been the same. The direction in which we drive changes, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise. And we changed the route itself so that long-time participants don’t take old maps and don’t have an advantage over less experienced ones. Of course, some places are repeated, but most of the route is different every year, “explained Gediminas Grigaitis, the organizer of Autoaibė Lower Lithuania – Perimeters.
How is it possible to change the route on the same route for 10 years? And it’s not as complicated as it sounds. Competition participants compete on narrow forest roads, furrows in meadows, long easements and overgrown with vegetation. And such, for example, in the pine forests of Dzūkija, a living spider web. Therefore, without being too far from the border, the route can be carved differently each year. It is more difficult on the plains of northern Lithuania, where gravel roads are wide, constantly paved and more difficult sections have to be found on the roads used by farmers among the soils. As a result, sometimes the route goes into Lithuania, sometimes it crosses the border with Latvia and Poland.
“It just came to our attention then. There are very beautiful places on the Lithuanian border, through which we always allow participants to drive, but there is a principle that the route would be interesting, invisible and a surprise factor,” he explained. G. Grigaitis.
The track promises surprises
The organizer says it takes almost two weeks to list the complete route and compile a road book for participants in the Adventure book. About 12-13 days. He spends a lot of time on the road, he has already marked the preliminary route on the map, exploring the surroundings, refining the route. Sometimes you have to cut down trees that have fallen on a disused road or have to change your route to another place due to roads blocked by farmers. Those who handle the reference sections must complete the full route in 60 hours.
“Autoaibė Lower Lithuania – Perimeters” is a rally raid race for SUVs. This is not a car race in which athletes spend more time pulling a car out of a swamp than driving it. Here the tracks are tricky as they separate crossovers from real SUVs, but if the driver knows how to drive there will be nowhere to get stuck.
However, the organizer cautions that the track is also highly dependent on weather conditions. If the weather before the competition is rainy, the tracks can collapse and you will have to drive through the mud, so even a short 139 km stretch from Šalčininkai to Druskininkai may require a full day of work to get over it.
Adventure class participants follow the road book according to traffic rules, since the track is not closed.
All participants in the car have GPS tracking systems, so organizers punish violators with fines longer than the traffic police. Driving at a speed limit with an ATV can be boring. On the gravel roads of northern Lithuania, where 70 km / h are allowed. speed maybe like that. However, maintaining this speed in bad forests is a real challenge.
In some places, the organizer limits speed more than allowed by traffic regulations. Participants generally drive only 30-50 km / h through the border villages. speed. Sometimes even slower if the house is right on the road so as not to disturb the peace of people who live far away and not jeopardize security. In accordance with the philosophy of these off-road races, participants must compete at speed on remote and difficult off-road routes.
For athletes – speed sections
Meanwhile, Sport-class racers, motorcycles, ATVs and Side by Side buggies compete in the speed sections, again according to the road book. The competition takes place on exactly the same principle as in the Dakar Rally. The organizer “Autoaibė Lower Lithuania – Perimeters” pays more attention to speed sections than to reference tracks.
“Although the kilometers of the speed sections are less than the reference ones, they are more expensive. They must be checked and there are no errors in the road book, because in one way you see the track when you drive it marking it slowly, and in another way when the athletes run it at maximum speed.
For example, a simple roller coaster at a sporty pace can turn into a springboard, and a pit you wouldn’t even pay attention to when you get there faster can seriously launch the car into the air. When creating a track, athletes must appreciate all tight corners and many other nuances, “said Gediminas Grigaitis.
This year, Autoaibė Lithuanian Baja – Perimetre will have almost 400 km of speed sections in three sections: near Kapčiamiestis, near Druskininkai and near the event city – Tauragė. The most limiting factor for organizers to increase the geography of sports sections is time. The event lasts 60 hours, it takes a long time at crossings. In any case, the time constraints and so much off-road action in two and a half days make this event a Lithuanian Dakar.
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