Rallye Breslau, prologue. SSV: double vision from the Lithuanians
By Stephan Wolf
If in the Enduro category (any motorcycles) started the most participants of the current Rallye Breslau (76 riders), the second position in this unofficial nomination is held by the SSV category - 68 crews went to the start of the prologue.
Of this large company of SSV crews, 11 participants represent Lithuania (plus one Lithuanian navigator who starts with an Estonian rider). We bring to your attention two crews from Lithuania, who came to Rallye Breslau with different experience.
Team No Stress
Marius Damavičius - Albert Veliamovič (Can-Am Maverick R)
One of the most experienced crews in the Lithuanian representation - this is already the fourth start for them at Rallye Breslau. They have also started at many other events, including three starts at the Fenix Rally in Africa. In addition, co-driver Albert Veliamovič made his Dakar debut this year, where he started in the Truck T5 category - together with Vaidotas Paškevičius and Gytis Gaspariūnas on Tatra Jamal. However, they were unable to finish the Dakar-2024 - they ended their participation after the fourth day of the race (engine failure in the dunes).
Albert Veliamovič (co-driver Marius Damavičius): “For me, Rallye Breslau is the first start this year after the Dakar. I think Marius and I will have a big fight in our SSV category - there are almost seven dozen competitors. We start on the new Can-Am Maverick R - we have already seen two or three of these vehicles from our rivals. We expect a good result!”
Team Rytrama racing
Rytis Juodsnukis - Aurimas Lekavičius (Can-Am Maverick X3)
For driver, it’s a debut start at Rallye Breslau. According to Rytis Juodsnukis, he visited the Dakar in 2020 as a fan - he immediately caught this “disease” and started looking for the opportunity to participate in cross-country rallies. In the same year 2020 he bought his first SSV and started to start in various competitions in Lithuania. When he gained some experience, Rytis Juodsnukis started to take part in other competitions - for example, in Africa, where last year he successfully travelled the full distance of the Fenix Rally.
Rytis Juodsnukis: “We are from the Rytrama racing team, this is the first start for us at Rallye Breslau. We prepared the current Can-Am Maverick X3 on ourselves, from beginning to end. We hope that we have managed to prepare the car in the best possible way for this race. And now we came to Rallye Breslau to have a look, to get acquainted with the local tracks. It’s too early to think about prize positions, but we hope to be somewhere in the middle. The higher we finish, the better!”
At the prologue Marius Damavičius and Albert Veliamovič became one of the best Lithuanian representatives in the SSV category, where they finished tenth. Rytis Juodsnukis with Aurimas Lekavičius successfully finished in the Top 20 - according to the preliminary results of the prologue they were 20th.
Marius Damavičius (10th in SSV): “The prologue was relatively easy, with different turns, short straights. In terms of navigation, I think my co-driver Albert will be able to talk more about it. It’s hard to say anything about the capabilities of our car yet. The distance is too short, less than ten kilometres - we had to warm up a bit and finish. We are satisfied with our result - we finished tenth. If we can continue to drive with such results, it will be great. Now it is important to drive the whole race efficiently and not to break the car”.
Albert Veliamovič (co-driver Marius Damavičius): “Precise navigation is very important here - you have to go exactly in the right direction, without deviations. Rallye Breslau is a very difficult race in this sense. A lot will depend on the work of the mechanics - preparation and setting up the car, its repair during the race. Look at the main pretender in SSV - Janus van Kasteren, who has won the Dakar in the past. He and I were in the same category at the Dakar this year, I know his level very well - he is definitely number one at Rallye Breslau. He crashed his Can-Am today. Yes, yes, he went out to practice before the start and literally destroyed the car. And his team had only three hours to repair everything - we were even afraid that the team wouldn’t make it. But the mechanics did everything, van Kasteren started and won the prologue instantly! It all depends on the team as a whole - the driver, the co-driver, the mechanics…”
Rytis Juodsnukis (20th in SSV): “The prologue course was interesting, but you have to be careful on it. The guys who started before us on motos and quads warned us to be careful - big pits, big bumps…. We started, and almost immediately the front part of the car started throwing up, and we realized that we had to slow down. But the track was fascinating, varied, a lot of fast parts. Even at such a short distance we saw two or even three cars that stopped on the track, and we overtook one of our rivals. We are still 17th by unofficial results, but something may change after the penalties. And there will definitely be penalties - someone did not stop in time, someone went in the wrong direction. But if tomorrow we start in the Top 20, it will be great. We didn’t even expect to do so well in the prologue”.
Credits: RBI Media, teams social media
