A month after earning his Sports Management bachelor’s degree from Lithuanian Sports University, Rokas Baciuška will have another go in the Toyota Hilux on 26–28 July when he enters the Baja España Aragón in Spain. It will be his third time competing in the premier Ultimate category, incidentally a year after making his début at Aragón.
Overdrive Racing will prepare his Hilux again, while Oriol Vidal returns as his co-driver. Vidal missed the Desafío Ruta 40 in June due to a back injury he sustained at the Dakar Rally.
Baciuška is the World Rally-Raid Championship leader in the Challenger category with one round remaining, riding a two-race win streak after claiming the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid and Desafío Ruta 40. He won the SSV (then T4) title in 2023, during which he dabbled in a Hilux for the first time at Aragón. Although he finished a still-solid ninth overall, he would have set the third best time outright if not for an eight-minute penalty for missing a waypoint and a flat tyre. At the end of the 2023 season, he picked up some desert driving experience in the Hilux as part of the W2RC Next Gen Tryouts.
In February, a month after placing third in Challenger at the Dakar Rally, Baciuška returned to the Hilux for the FIA World Baja Cup-opening Saudi Baja. He finished third in Ultimate, just a minute behind winner and Overdrive colleague Yazeed Al-Rajhi while holding off his other team-mate Juan Cruz Yacopini for the final spot on the class podium.
The Lithuanian hopes to graduate to Ultimate full time in 2025.
Baja Aragón is the third round of the FIA World Baja Cup.
