Vaidotas Žala

Vaidotas Žala (born (1987-08-28)August 28, 1987) is a Lithuanian rally and rally-raid driver.[1][2] Žala is the current Lithuanian Rally Champion winning the title in 2019 and 2020, both when driving for Agrorodeo racing team with Škoda Fabia R5. In addition to participating in various classic rally events Žala has been participating in Dakar Rally since 2016 with his start in 2021 being his 6th consecutive start at the Rally-raid marathon.[3] Žala is also the first and only Lithuanian to win a stage in Dakar Rally. Žala finished first in the opening stage of 2020 Dakar Rally.[4]

Vaidotas Žala
Personal information
Nationality Lithuanian
Born (1987-08-28) August 28, 1987
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
CountryLithuania
SportRallying, Rally-raid
TeamAgrorodeo

Rally racing record

Rally Starts
Year2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Lithuanian Rally Championship6574653464
Latvian Rally Championship32
Estonian Rally Championship1
Belarus Rally Championship4
Norway Rally Championship1
European Rally Championship2
NEZ Rally Championship1

Rally Victories
# Event[5] Season Co-driver Car
1 Rally Ozerniy Kray 2013 2013 Dainius Alekna Subaru Impreza STi N12
2 Rally Classic Druskininkai 2014 2014 Žygimantas Žala Subaru Impreza STi N12
3 Rally Elektrėnai 2015 2015 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
4 Rally Classic Druskininkai 2015 2015 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
5 300 Lakes Rally 2016 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
6 Rally Žemaitija 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
7 Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
8 Rally Classic 2018 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
9 Rally Žemaitija 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
10 Rally Elektrėnai 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
11 Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
12 Rally Classic 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
13 Rally Žemaitija 2020 2020 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5
14 Rally Elektrėnai 2020 2020 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5

Championship Victories

Žala won Lithuanian Rally Championship title in 2019 and in 2020 Assisted by his co-driver Andris Mālnieks, Žala came first with his Škoda Fabia R5 in LARČ 1 as well as 4WD classes.[6]

Dakar Results

Žala has been regular participant in the Dakar Rally since making his debut in 2016. Žala and his co-driver Saulius Jurgelėnas failed to finish in 2016 and 2017 due to mechanical issues with their Lithuanian-built prototype rally car based on Seat platform. Žala's best result to date is 12th place finish in 2019. In 2020 Žala made history by winning the opening stage, and thus becoming the first Lithuanian to win a Dakar Rally stage.

Year Class Vehicle Position
2016 Car Seat DNF
2017 Car Seat DNF
2018 Car Toyota Hilux 18th
2019 Car Toyota Hilux 12th[7]
2020 Car Mini John Cooper Works Rally 26th
2021 Car Mini John Cooper Works Rally DNF

References
  1. "Vaidotas Žala - Player Profile - Rally Raid". Eurosport.
  2. "Vaidotas Žala". sport.de.
  3. "Profil of VAIDOTAS ZALA - AGRORODEO - Dakar". www.dakar.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  4. "Price roars as Žala rises". www.dakar.com. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  5. eWRC-results.com. "Vaidotas Žala - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  6. "LARČ rezultatai". LASF.
  7. "Official Dakar rankings - bike - quad - car - SxS - truck". www.dakar.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
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