ERC
Tourism not pictured as Buteikis launches Junior ERC tour
Markas Buteikis has formally launched his FIA Junior ERC Championship bid, insisting there will be time for writing postcards as he prepares for his maiden international campaign.
Buteikis is stepping up to the Hankook-equipped category with a scholarship worth 80,000 for winning the Rally4 Trophy in his native Lithuania last season.
He will compete in a Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF run by Italian team MS Munaretto and co-driven by compatriot Titas Čapkauskas.
“We are very happy about this opportunity,” 20-year-old Buteikis said. “We thank the organisers and sponsors of the Rally4 Trophy, as well as the competitors who put pressure on us so that there was not a single moment when we could relax. They deserved this prize as much as we did, they encouraged us to constantly learn, improve and take risks. We feel that we have improved more during the past season than in our entire career so far, so we will try to perform as well as we can in the European Rally Championship. We will not be tourists, we will go to fight for the result.”
We will not be tourists, we will go to fight for the result
Buteikis launched his Junior ERC bid at the Automuziejus, a museum of historical cars located in Vilnius, his country’s capital city. Emanuele de Maigret, the Italy’s ambassador to Lithuania, was present at the event to highlight that Buteikis will be competing with an Italian team and driving an Italian car.
“This is the latest Rally4 class model of all. Is it the fastest? It is difficult to say, because the technical regulations are so strict that all cars are essentially very similar, and the gap between the steering wheel and the seat has a greater significance for the results than the car models. But since it is the most modern model, and we feel much improved, no one will stop us from jumping,” Čapkauskas, 23, said.
Buteikis will rely on Lancia power for his Junior ERC campaign
© Egidijaus Babelio
Buteikis makes the seemingly impossible possible
Markas Buteikis’ rise up the ranks to FIA Junior ERC Championship level began four years ago when he won the I am a Rally Driver contest. He then claimed Lithuania’s BMW Cup, which earned him funding support worth 15,000 euros for the next season, which helped him to purchase a Ford Fiesta Rally4, the car he used to win the Rally4 Trophy and the 80,000 euros Junior ERC scholarship.
Buteikis will make his Junior ERC debut on the season-opening BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia from 22 - 24 May following an outing on the Swedish championship-counting Rally Nykoping from 15 - 16 May. Kyle McBride, who announced his Junior ERC bid yesterday, will be among the Lithuanian driver’s opposition.
