Vaidotas Žala misplaced most of his sponsors after a disappointing finish to the 2023 Dakar Rally, however has discovered a saviour. On Tuesday, he introduced Lithuanian logistics firm Arijus Group has grow to be the brand new title sponsor for his group—dubbing it Arijus Racing—and confirmed he’ll return to Dakar in 2024.
Teltonika, a telecommunications agency, ended its title sponsorship of Žala’s group in late January after two years collectively.
“The final eight months have been a number of the most tough in my profession,” wrote Žala. “We had a bunch of technical issues in Dakar and once we got here again we misplaced a variety of funding. I’m so glad that Arijus gave us a second likelihood and lowered the ladder into the pit.
“Till lately, it appeared that Dakar can be out of our attain, however we are able to set off once more. I’ll do my greatest to make the most of this chance!”
Žala has raced the Dakar Rally since 2016 as a privateer bouncing between numerous producers together with SEAT, Toyota, and Mini. For 2023, he joined up with Prodrive to race a Hunter below his group’s banner of Teltonika Racing with assist from Bahrain Raid Xtreme.
The 2023 Rally was being an up-and-down affair for the Lithuanian as he alternated between top-ten stage finishes or retiring with mechanical points, together with his worst end being an eleventh on the opening day. His Prodrive team-mates appeared to wrestle equally, which included a disastrous Strage #2 the place Žala, Guerlain Chicherit, and Sébastien Loeb all suffered flat tyre punctures. The trio bounced again seven legs later after they swept the T1 podium in Stage #9 with Žala in second.
Sadly for Žala, the car issues returned over the following two days earlier than a damaged gearbox eradicated him altogether in Stage #11.
Whereas Žala has not raced a World Rally-Raid Championship spherical since Dakar, he has remained energetic within the Lithuanian Rally Championship. Through the summer season, he and fellow Lithuanian Dakar veterans Antanas Juknevičius and Benediktas Vanagas grew to become ambassadors for “Milijonas vaistinėlių Ukrainai“, a programme to donate previous first support kits in Lithuanian vehicles to Ukraine; the marketing campaign finally procured 115,223 kits.
The 2024 Dakar Rally begins on 5 January.
