# Vaidotas Žala

Vaidotas Žala (born (1987-08-28)August 28, 1987) is a Lithuanian rally 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 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 Dakar Rally. Žala finished first in the opening stage of 2020 Dakar Rally.

## Rally racing record
### Rally Starts

    Year2011201220132014201520162017201820192020 Lithuanian Rally Championship6574653464 Latvian Rally Championship32 Estonian Rally Championship1 Belarus Rally Championship4 Norway Rally Championship1 European Rally Championship2 NEZ Rally Championship1

### Rally Victories

    # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 Rally Ozerniy Kray 2013 2013 Dainius Alekna Subaru Impreza STi N12 2 Rally Classic Druskininkai 2014 2014 Žygimantas Žala Subaru Impreza STi N12 3 Rally Elektrėnai 2015 2015 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4 Rally Classic Druskininkai 2015 2015 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 5 300 Lakes Rally 2016 Žygimantas Žala Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 6 Rally Žemaitija 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 7 Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 8 Rally Classic 2018 2018 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 9 Rally Žemaitija 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 10 Rally Elektrėnai 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 11 Samsonas Rally Rokiškis 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 12 Rally Classic 2019 2019 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 13 Rally Žemaitija 2020 2020 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5 14 Rally Elektrėnai 2020 2020 Andris Mālnieks Škoda Fabia R5

### 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 in LARČ 1 as well as 4WD classes.

### Dakar Results

Žala has been regular participant in the Dakar Rally 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.
    Year Class Starting number Navigator Vehicle Stages won Position 2016 Car 390 Saulius Jurgelėnas Seat Leon Dakar (aka Bitė) DNF (10/13) 2017 Car 373 Saulius Jurgelėnas Seat Leon Dakar (aka Bitė) DNF (4/12) 2018 Car 349 Saulius Jurgelėnas Toyota Hilux Overdrive OTB (aka Kamanė) 18 2019 Car 337 Saulius Jurgelėnas Toyota Hilux Overdrive OTB (aka Kamanė) 12 2020 Car 319 Saulius Jurgelėnas Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) 1 26 2021 Car 325 Paulo Fiuza Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) DNF (2/12) 2022 Car 234 Paulo Fiuza Mini John Cooper Works Rally (aka Mažylis) 11 2023 Car 213 Paulo Fiuza Prodrive BRX Hunter DNF (12/14) 2024 Car 214 Paulo Fiuza Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus (aka Mažylis) DNF (9/12) (54 - Dakar experience) 2025 Truck 605 Paulo Fiuza Max van Grol Iveco Powerstar (aka Avilys) 5