A mentor for motorsport talent – Gintaras Sadauskas

Gintaras Sadauskas is a proper motorsports man for a long time, a man with passion and knowledge in the sports who enjoys seeing young people take their first steps in racing and is willing to guide them.

What is Autoralis team?

“I have been in motorsports for many, many years. Club Autoralis was founded in 2005 and as the title says for rally driving. I am the chairman of the club, which in its peak had 120 members. We have been team champions of Lithuanian rally championship four times, but since 2017 we slowly started in circuit racing with a red Audi A4, when we raced in Palanga 1000 km race and in some of the BEC 4H events. But now in circuit racing drivers want their team names in sponsor names, for example like we had in 2023 – “Soderus” and “Hemi” racing but the base is Autoralis. Now I am older, and I am more involved in circuit racing activities. Club works like this now, a group of people attract money, we buy a car, service it and race it with the budget that comes from drivers. If there is a budget and willingness – we race.”

Bikernieki, Porsche Ring, Nemuno Ziedas. You as a team principal, where do you enjoy most?

If we look from team service side, then Parnu is the best one from infrastructure. Riga is a bit more chaotic and more work needed before, during and after. We are waiting for Kaunas to improve. The race track for drivers Riga is the best. But logistics and infrastructure – Porsche ring for sure!”

Dream in motorsports?

“Well, so many racers have been involved with me during those years. Seven different Masters of Sports in Lithuania have been in my club, all from rally so far. Motorsports is now dominated by money, if you have the money – you race. I have a lot of young people with me, but only one or two has enough funds to race. I have been a mentor for many young people and I dont know how they find me. For example. Karolis Jovaisa, he was a kart racer, his first experience was with our Honda Civic race car in Nemuno Ziedas. I have many examples like this, for example Ignas Jomantas, Ingrida Kulikauskiene, I give the first push, get them into motorsports and then they go on their own, but they have felt the taste and the emotions. I very enjoy racing like Legends cars that were in Riga, all parts equal, little to change in setup and the driver is the most important one. Or BMW 325 CUP, where racing level is really high. But its understandable, that motorsports is a hobby and people enjoy driving various cars and having fun. In 2024, we will buy a new TCR car and try some races in Europe. At least, its a plan like this in January. I am now retired, but not from motorsports and want to be a part of motorsports as much as possible!”

Who is Gintaras outside race tracks?

“Now I am a bit older and with a bit more weight, but my individual passion is windsurfing. We have Kaunas sea, where it can be enjoyed properly!”