Vaidotas Žala

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

Vaidotas Žala (born (1987-08-28)August 28, 1987) is a Lithuanian rally and rally-raid driver.[1][2] Žala won the Lithuanian Rally Champion, winning the title in 2019 and 2020, both when driving for the Agrorodeo racing team with Škoda Fabia R5. In addition to participating in various classic rally events, Žala has been participating in the 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 Lithuanian to win a stage in the Dakar Rally. Žala finished first in the opening stage of 2020 Dakar Rally.[4]

Rally racing record

Rally Starts

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Lithuania Lithuanian Rally Championship 6 5 7 4 6 5 3 4 6 4
Latvia Latvian Rally Championship 3 2
Estonia Estonian Rally Championship 1
Belarus Belarus Rally Championship 4
Norway Norway Rally Championship 1
Europe European Rally Championship 2
Europe NEZ Rally Championship 1

Rally Victories

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

Championship Victories

Žala won the Lithuanian Rally Championship title in 2019 and 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 regularly participated in the Dakar Rally since 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 the Seat platform. Žala's best result to date is an 11th-place finish in 2022. In 2020, Žala made history by winning the opening stage and thus becoming the first Lithuanian to win a Dakar Rally stage.

Year Class Starting number Navigator Vehicle Stages won Position
2016 Car 390 Lithuania Saulius Jurgelėnas Spain Lithuania Seat Leon Dakar (aka Bitė) DNF (10/13)
2017 Car 373 Lithuania Saulius Jurgelėnas Spain Lithuania Seat Leon Dakar (aka Bitė) DNF (4/12)
2018 Car 349 Lithuania Saulius Jurgelėnas Japan Toyota Hilux Overdrive OTB (aka Kamanė) 18
2019 Car 337 Lithuania Saulius Jurgelėnas Japan Toyota Hilux Overdrive OTB (aka Kamanė) 12
2020 Car 319 Lithuania Saulius Jurgelėnas United Kingdom Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) 1 26
2021 Car 325 Portugal Paulo Fiuza United Kingdom Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) DNF (2/12)
2022 Car 234 Portugal Paulo Fiuza United Kingdom Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) 11
2023 Car 213 Portugal Paulo Fiuza United Kingdom Prodrive BRX Hunter DNF (12/14)
2024 Car 214 Portugal Paulo Fiuza United Kingdom Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus (aka Mažylis) DNF (9/12) (54 - Dakar experience)
2025 Truck 605 Portugal Paulo Fiuza
Netherlands Max van Grol 		Italy Australia Netherlands Iveco Powerstar (aka Avilys) 5

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. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
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