With Kuldar Sikk still recovering from injury, Benediktas Vanagas has named Aisvydas Paliukėnas as backup navigator for the rest of the European Baja Cup. Vanagas announced the hiring on Monday, less than two weeks before the EBC’s Italian Baja on July 3–5.

Paliukėnas is the reigning Lithuanian Rally Champion co-driver in the AWD and LARČ2 classes, winning both titles with Vladas Jurkevičius. The two have been working together since 2020, which includes doing the Dakar Rally as members of Vanagas’ Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics team twice. After finishing 49th in 2024, they were 47th in Ultimate at the latest edition in January.

The 30-year-old has four Dakar starts under his belt, running the 2020 and 2021 races as the naigator for Edvinas Juskauskas. He’s also competed in the Middle East Baja Cup as Nouef Al-Sowaidi’s roadbook reader.

“I’m happy to be able to help Benediktas and the team, where I feel I belong,” said Paliukėnas. “It will be interesting to try the fast European Baja tracks and discover the team’s speed on them.”

While Paliukėnas has worked with TGR Baltics before, he was also Vanagas’ copilot at the 2017 Classic Rally Druskininkai. Racing a Škoda Fabia R5, they finished fourth overall and tops for LARČ2.

“Aisvydas is a professional co-driver whose career I’ve followed since the very beginning,” Vanagas commented.

While Sikk is usually Vanagas’ navigator, he broke his spine in an accident while working as Ott Tänak’s gravel crew at the 2024 Central European Rally. Szymon Gospodarczyk filled in for Dakar, where he and Vanagas retired due to differential and transmission damage.

Vanagas did not run the first three races of the 2025 European Baja Cup season (Extremadura, Troia, Greece).

Featured image credit: Gurtam Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics