- Rally Rzeszów – Polish stopover on the European Rally Championship map;
- Kajetanowicz and Baran hold second place in the title fight, with small gap to the leaders;
- No less than 96 crews on the entry list for Tarmac event, including 26 in top R5 cars;
- Kajto is the only competitor with stage wins in all rounds of the first part of the FIA ERC season;
- Rally Rzeszów in numbers and second part of our rally glossary – at the bottom of this press release.
The second part of the 2017 FIA European Rally Championship season is approaching fast. An extremely important round five of the series takes place in Poland. Twenty-sixth edition of Tarmac Rally Rzeszów runs on 3-5 August, with Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran fighting for their fourth overall victory in this event. The LOTOS Rally Team crew holds second place in the FIA ERC standings with narrow gap to the leaders and fights for record-breaking triumph this year – first-ever third consecutive championship title.
Kajto has 79 points to his name and as the only driver have recorded stage wins during all four championship rounds run so far this year. He set the fastest times on 16 tests and finished 33 stages (61%) in top three. These results brought his overall FIA ERC tally to 115 stage wins. The first part of the season consisted of three gravel rounds (Azores, Greece and Cyprus) and one asphalt rally (Canary Islands). There are more Tarmac events in the second part (Poland, Czech Republic and Italy), with the championship showdown in Latvia (gravel).
World Championship competition
No less than 26 cars in the top R5 category, 21 countries and three series: Polish Championship (RSMP), Central European Zone (FIA CEZ) and European Championship (FIA ERC). Kajetanowicz will fight against, among others, current FIA European Rally Championship leader Bruno Magalhães from Portugal (Skoda Fabia R5), WRC regular Mads Østberg (Ford Fiesta R5) or triple Polish Champion Bryan Bouffier from France (Ford Fiesta R5). Russian driver Alexey Lukyanuk (Ford Fiesta R5) comes back to competition after a break and the field is boosted by two recent Polish Champions: Grzegorz Grzyb (Skoda Fabia R5) and Łukasz Habaj (Ford Fiesta R5).
Kajetanowicz takes part in this event for eleventh time. The LOTOS Rally Team driver made his debut here for the first time in 2005, winning one-make Peugeot Cup classification. He scored three overall victories, including last year’s edition, when Rally Rzeszów appeared in the FIA ERC calendar for the first time. Only Bouffier has more wins under his belt (four) and he has also entered this year’s rally.
Eleven special stages in the Subcarpathian area
The route is over 214 kilometres long and consists of eleven special stages. The Subcarpathian region is famous for its narrow roads, full of corners with no space for any mistake. The crews have to take quick and precise decisions – every moment of hesitation brings a loss of precious seconds which might impact the victory chance.
After Thursday’s Qualifying Stage in Niechobrze (starts at 12:15 CET) and starting ceremony in the evening (18:00 CET), the crews will compete over two legs, on Friday and Saturday. The opening day consists of five special stages, including the longest one of the rally: Pstrągowa (24.56 kms). This leg ends with a spectacular superspecial through the streets of Rzeszów. On Saturday, the final day, the crews will fight on six special stages with total length of over 113 kilometres. The battle for victory should end at around 16:00 CET and the popular finish ceremony in The Main Square in Rzeszów, attracting huge crowds, takes place at 17:30 CET.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz: – Together with all members of the LOTOS Rally Team we consistently work on our pre-season plan, which is to fight for third consecutive championship title. We have completed the first part of the season, in which we showed good pace. Rally Rzeszów is very close to my heart. This round takes place in our homeland and it brings extra motivation and boost. I want to give our fans plenty of emotions and to drive as well as possible but I also know that we face a difficult task. Everyone wants to beat the champion, especially on his home ground. However, you may rest assured that I am not going to make this task easy for them. 🙂
You can follow the rally thanks to Eurosport coverage, according to the schedule (all times are CET):
- 4.08 at 23:00 – Eurosport 1 (Leg 1 review)
- 5.08 at 07:00 – Eurosport 2 (Leg 1 review)
- 5.08 at 08:00 – Eurosport 1 (Leg 1 review)
- 5.08 at 23:00 – Eurosport 1 (Leg 2 review)
- 6.08 at 07:00 – Eurosport 2 (Leg 2 review)
- 6.08 at 08:00 – Eurosport 1 (Leg 2 review)
- 7.08 at 20:45 – Eurosport 2 (Rally review)
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran are supported by strategic partner of LOTOS Rally Team – LOTOS Group – as well as CUBE.ITG, Delphi and Driving Experience. More info about Kajetan Kajetanowicz and the team available at: www.lotosrallyteam.pl, www.kajto.pl, www.facebook.com/EmocjeDoPelna, www.facebook.com/KajetanKajetanowicz and www.twitter.com/Kajto_pl
The 2017 FIA European Rally Championship standings after Cyprus Rally (round 4 of 8):
1. Bruno Magalhães (Portugal) 93 points
2. Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Poland) 79 points
3. Alexey Lukyanuk (Russia) 46 points
4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) 45 points
5. José Maria López (Spain) 27 points
6. Marijan Griebel (Germany) 27 points
7. Alexandros Tsouloftas (Cyprus) 26 points
8. Panikos Polykarpou (Cyprus) 26 points
9. Grzegorz Grzyb (Poland) 22 points
10. Josh Moffett (Ireland) 20 points
The 2017 Rally Rzeszów in numbers:
- 2nd position of Kajetan and Jarek in the overall FIA ERC standings ahead of Rally Rzeszów;
- 5th round of eight in the 2017 FIA European Rally Championship, second on Tarmac;
- 14 points – the gap between Kajetanowicz and current FIA ERC leader;
- 115 – the number of stages won by Kajto in the FIA ERC so far;
- 2nd time Rally Rzeszów is a part of the FIA ERC calendar;
- 11th outing of Kajetanowicz in this event;
- 3 overall victories for Kajto and six podium finishes in this rally;
- 24.56 kms – the longest special stage of the rally, Pstrągowa;
- 11 special stages (214.63 kms) to cover in this year’s Rally Rzeszów;
- 26 crews entered for Rally Rzeszów in top R5 cars;
- 79 points scored by the LOTOS Rally Team crew in the opening four rallies of this season;
- 26th edition of this event takes place this year;
- 96 crews from 21 countries on entry list of round five of the FIA ERC;
- In their 20 previous FIA ERC outings Kajto and Jarek scored points.
- 236 days will have passed since the previous outing of Kajetanowicz in Poland (Rally Barbórka);
- 11 years ago during Rally Rzeszów Kajetan Kajetanowicz recorded his first ever stage win in the Polish Rally Championship;
- Four wins in Rally Rzeszów by its record holder, triple Polish Rally Champion Bryan Bouffier.
Rally Glossary – all about rallies
Part 2: Scrutineering – safety and rules
It is time for the second part of our rally glossary: we explain the intricacies of Scrutineering. This procedure takes place twice during each rally: the first one is compulsory for every crew, the cars subjected to the second one are appointed by the Stewards. The initial Scrutineering usually takes place one day ahead of the start and technical delegates perform thorough checks of the rally car and crew’s safety equipment.
They check the car’s compliance with its homologation and primarily its safety equipment: roll cage, special seats, seat belts and fire extinguishing system. Furthermore, the technical delegates pay great attention to crew’s fireproof overalls and other clothes, crash helmets or HANS systems. Safety is always put on pole position!
Schedule of the 2017 Rally Rzeszów (all times are CET):
Thursday 3 August:
09:00 – Free Practice
12:15 – Qualifying Stage (Niechobrz, 3.37 kms)
16:30 – Press conference (Rzeszów, Rally Office)
17:00 – Selection of start positions (Rzeszów, Millenium Hall)
18:00 – Starting ceremony (Rzeszów, Millenium Hall)
Friday 4 August:
10:50 – SS 1 – Grudna 1 (23.83 kms)
11:50 – SS 2 – Pstrągowa 1 (24.56 kms)
13:35 – Service A – 30 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
15:35 – SS 3 – Grudna 2 (23.83 kms)
16:35 – SS 4 – Pstrągowa 2 (24.56 kms)
18:10 – Service B – 30 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
19:00 – SS 5 – Super Special Stage Rzeszów (4.05 kms)
Flexi Service C – 45 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
Length of special stages, Leg 1: 100.83 kms
Saturday 5 August:
07:50 – Service D – 15 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
08:45 – SS 6 – Lubenia 1 (22.55 kms)
09:55 – SS 7 – Korczyna 1 (16.05 kms)
10:40 – SS 8 – Wysoka 1 (18.30 kms)
12:20 – Service E – 30 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
13:30 – SS 9 – Lubenia 2 (22.55 kms)
14:40 – SS 10 – Korczyna 2 (16.05 kms)
15:25 – SS 11 – Wysoka 2 (18.30 kms)
16:55 – Service F – 10 mins (Rzeszów, University of Technology Campus)
17:30 – Ceremonial Finish (Rzeszów, The Main Square)
Length of special stages, Leg 2: 113.80 kms
Length of special stages, Rally Rzeszów: 214.63 kms
