Karolis Raišys

Karolis Raišys (born 2 May 1982) is a Lithuanian rally driver. He competes in the and classic rally events.

He has won four Lithuanian rally titles and the Dakar Classic in 2026.

Racing career

Raišys started racing in Lithuania's national autoslalom series. He won a championship every year from 2007 to 2011, claiming the SG2000 title in 2007 followed by four in a row in the rear-wheel drive category; he added a fifth RWD title in 2013.

In 2010, he made his debut in the Lithuanian Rally Championship, driving an Opel Astra with Rytis Lukauskas as his co-driver and finishing second in SG2000 points. A year later, he recorded his first victory when he won Class S2000 at the Classic Rally Druskininkai; Raišys went on to win the 2011 SG2000 championship.

He moved to the LRC's Class 7 for 2013, where he began racing a BMW M3 E36 alongside Vytautas Dusevičius. Raišys won the championship with two class victories.

Raišys dabbled in time trials in 2021 and 2022, finishing third among SGC4 drivers in Lithuania's Street Race Championship both years.

He initially competed in a Mini Cooper S, with which he won the Madona Rally in 2015. He and co-driver Vytautas Černiauskas raced a 1965 MG MGB, but a fuel pump failure prevented them from being classified despite finishing. The Jaguar won its class in the 2019 and 2020 races, including placing fourth overall in the former.

Raišys ran the Rally de Portugal Histórico in 2021 and 2023, racing a 1961 Jaguar Mark 2 that he procured from the Automuseum Vilnius. He won his class in both years.

As a brand ambassador for Land Rover and certified Land Rover Off-Road Driving Experience instructor, he registered for the 2025 Dakar Classic with a 1978 Series III 109. It was based on the car driven by Maurice and Michel Calamel in the 1979 Paris–Dakar Rally. Despite the car's performance and a power steering issue on the eighth stage, Raišys and navigator Ignas Daunoravičius finished third and won their class.

While Raišys brought back the Land Rover for the 2026 Classic, he had Christophe Marques as his co-driver after Daunoravičius joined another team. He and Marques had never worked together before, only meeting for the first time when they arrived in Saudi Arabia for the Dakar. Raišys won six stages and the overall.

Career record Dakar Classic Year Vehicle Position Stage wins 2025 Land Rover 3rd 0 2026 1st 6