Dr. Arnas Paliukėnas will not continue as the lead FIA steward at the Dakar Rally in 2026, wanting to ensure the race is called fairly since his son Aisvyas is competing.

“The position comes with responsibility,” said the older Paliukėnas. “This is true sport. You cannot hold such a position if a family member is competing.”

Paliukėnas has worked the Dakar Rally three times including the most recent edition in January as the FIA Chair of the Stewards. A law professor at Vilnius University, he was also a judge on the FIA International Court of Appeal and headed the Lithuanian Automobile Sport Federation’s rally committee and court of appeal.

Given his legal experience, the FIA was happy to have him oversee penalties and other verdicts. For the 2025 Dakar, he was joined by Omar Zarour and Saleh Alem as assistant stewards, the former also from the FIA while the latter came from the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. Among the rulings Paliukėnas and his team had to make were suspended disqualifications for cell phone infractions, tacking on and removing time penalties, and disqualifying Brian Baragwanath over a month after the race for a fuel violation.

Aisvydas Paliukėnas was announced as Benediktas Vanagas’ navigator for Dakar on Tuesday. The two previously worked together in the Lithuanian Rally Championship before reuniting for the 2025 FIA European Baja Cup due to Vanagas’ usual co-driver Kuldar Sikk recovering from a spinal injury. The two won the Italian Baja among EBC drivers in July.

With Sikk still unavailable, Vanagas naturally turned to the younger Paliukėnas once again. Paliukėnas had already raced Dakar before as the navigator for Vladas Jurkevičius.

“Arnas Paliukėnas, as Chairperson of the Stewards panel at the Dakar event, is a huge achievement for Lithuania,” Vanagas commented. “No less important than the success of any team in the race. I respect his professional approach to the job.

“It’s a beautiful connection between father and son, where the father presses pause so the son can move forward.”

UPDATE (November 27): Article now has quotes from Dr. Paliukėnas and Vanagas.

Featured image credit: Vilnius University