“My target is to beat last year's result”

Arunas Gelazninkas carved himself out a slice of history as he grabbed an impressive 24th position on his Dakar debut last year, achieving the best-ever Lithuanian finish in the bikes. In a country that is better renowned for its love affair with the cars, the 34-year-old has emerged as a serious talent on two wheels. He began riding motocross at the age of nine, going on to become a motorbike instructor, and branched out into enduro and cross-country around eight years ago. Winner of the Baltic cross-country championship and the Lithuanian enduro & cross-country championship in 2018, he now looks primed for more success on the international stage. Following his successful maiden Dakar, he won the 2019 Tuareg Rally and was once again crowned Lithuanian national champion. In Saudi Arabia, on a new KTM Rally Replica and with the support of the Zigmas Dakar Team, Arunas is targeting an improvement on last year's result and hopefully a place in the top 20.

“I think I can be very happy to have achieved such a good position on my debut, for sure. After the Dakar I went to the Tuareg Rally which I won, that was really good for me too. I also came third at Baja Poland, like last year. This year I have a completely new bike. My target is to beat last year's result and do better than 24th. I'd like to break into the top 20! I don't know exactly what to expect in Saudi Arabia, it should be interesting. I've heard there will be a couple of really long days, and a couple of finishes in the dark. It's going to be challenging. We'll have to deal with the temperatures too, it'll be cold at night and in the morning. But overall, I'm feeling confident, I'm feeling good.”