Rokas Baciuška leaves for 2025 Dakar

Just before the New Year, on December 29, Rokas Baciuška from Tauragė was sent off to the Dakar Rally from Vilnius Airport.

Speaking to a large gathering of journalists, Rokas shared his plans for the 2025 Dakar Rally: “On January 1, we’ll have a training session with the team. We’ll check if everything is fine with the car and adjust the settings. January 2 is for administrative checks, and January 3 is the start.”

When asked about his goals, Rokas was candid: “This Dakar will be the most competitive in the history of these races. There will be about 20 different drivers capable of winning a stage. My life goal isn’t to be in the TOP 30 or TOP 20; I want to compete and beat Dakar legends, to show the world that even from a small country like Lithuania, we can achieve great things. Finishing in the TOP 10 in my first Dakar would be a very good result, TOP 5 would be amazing, and TOP 3 or even winning Dakar would be out of this world. But understand, the result doesn’t depend solely on me—it will also be determined by the navigator, the team mechanics’ work, and, of course, luck,” said Rokas.

“Let’s be realistic—I understand that compared to my competitors, I have the fewest kilometers in the T1+ class, but I’m ambitious and don’t intend to back down,” Rokas added with a smile.

The Dakar Rally is a two-week-long event, known as the toughest off-road race in the world, requiring immense endurance and strong psychological preparation. This will be Rokas’s fourth Dakar Rally, but this time he will compete in the T1+ car class. The 2025 Dakar Rally kicks off on January 3.