What do car rally and football have in common? At first glance, it seems that these two sports have no common denominators, but this stereotype is prone to breaking by Spaniard Santiago Canizares. The former famous Spanish national football team goalkeeper, after finishing his career, turned to motorsport. The organizers of "Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" are thrilled that this year he can be seen in Lithuania.
"Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" organizers revealed that they accidentally discovered this global star on the internet and started inviting him to the Rokiskis rally half a year ago. Initially, the process was slow, but then Lithuanians started communicating with Santiago Canizares through the Latvian Andrius Stoncus. The fluent Latvian immediately handed over the personal invitation of Lithuanians to the Spanish football star.
After considering all the options, Santiago Canizares announced that he will find time in his busy schedule to attend these races and is ready to come to Lithuania and compete in the "Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" competition.
"Football and Valvoline oil may have nothing in common, but when a former football player switches to rally, a symbiosis between rally and oil emerges. We are pleased that our long-time partner Valvoline agreed to take care of Santiago Canizares's smooth journey to Lithuania and covered all the travel expenses. Thanks to Valvoline, rally spectators will be able to see this legendary athlete, who used to reign in football stadiums, now racing through the speed sections in the surroundings of Rokiskis," said competition organizer Audrius Gimzauskas.
For older generations of football fans, Santiago Canizares is well known, as the athlete spent many years defending the goal of one of the most famous football teams in the world, Real Madrid, and won the UEFA Champions League with Valencia. He also played for nearly a decade in the Spanish national football team, participating in World and European football championships.
Later, in 2008, the athlete ended his career and then devoted his time to his long-time dream - motorsport. The football player fascinated by car rallying soon acquired a "Porsche" dedicated to asphalt rallies in the Valencia region. Lately, Santiago Canizares races with two cars - "Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.6" and "Suzuki Swift S1600". It is with the "Suzuki" car that he competes in a team lineup and scores victories.
However, in Lithuania, the driver will not compete with the cars he is used to. Due to complex logistics, it was decided to rent a car for the "Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" competition from the Latvian team "ASRT". The Spaniard will start with the "Mitsubishi Lancer EVO Proto" car.
"This will be the first time Santiago will race on gravel. All rallies in Spain, in his region, take place on asphalt, so this will be a new challenge for him. In addition, he will arrive in Rokiskis only on Thursday evening, so we will have to somehow hurry to register for the speed sections. Santiago initially doubted whether to participate in this rally, but a week before, we received a very pleasant invitation from the organizers, with an offer that Valvoline will cover all our travel expenses, and we decided to put our work aside and participate in this rally," said the fluent Lithuanian-speaking Santiago Canizares teammate Andris Stoncus.
So, when arriving in Rokiskis, "Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" spectators will have a great opportunity to see that Santiago Canizares can withstand not only an eleven-meter penalty kick but also more than 140 kilometers of Lithuanian gravel roads.
"Samsonas Rally Rokiskis" competition in the surroundings of Rokiskis will take place on August 3-4. Not only the fastest Lithuanian racing drivers will start here, but also rally legends from foreign countries. Until July 29th, spectators can purchase rally passes at VIADA gas stations for just 11 euros. Later, the rally passes will increase in price, and they can be purchased on the days of the event in Rokiskis.
sportas.info
