Vaidotas Žala (born ) is a Lithuanian

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

and rally-raid driver. Žala won the Lithuanian Rally Champion winning the title in 2019 and 2020, both when driving for Agrorodeo racing team with Škoda Fabia R5. In addition to participating in various classic rally events Žala has been participating in

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

since 2016 with his start in 2021 being his 6th consecutive start at the Rally-raid marathon. Žala is also the first Lithuanian to win a stage in

. Žala finished first in the opening stage of

2020 Dakar Rally The 2020 Dakar Rally was the 42nd edition of the event and the first edition held in Saudi Arabia. The event started in Jeddah on 5 January and finished in Al-Qiddiya on 17 January after 12 stages of the competition. This was also the first ev ...

Rally racing record

Rally Starts

Rally Victories

Championship Victories

Žala won Lithuanian Rally Championship title in 2019 and in 2020 Assisted by his co-driver Andris Mālnieks, Žala came first with his

Škoda Fabia R5 The Škoda Fabia R5 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car and is built to R5 regulations. It made its competition début in 2015 as a successor to the Škoda Fabia S2000. The car proved to be very ...

in LARČ 1 as well as 4WD classes.

Dakar Results

Žala has been regular participant in the

since making 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 Seat platform. Žala's best result to date is 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. :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Žala, Vaidotas Lithuanian racing drivers Living people 1987 births Dakar Rally drivers