- FIA European Rally Championship comes to Poland – it is time for Rally Rzeszów;
- Kajetanowicz and Baran hold second position in the FIA ERC standings, with narrow gap to the series leaders;
- The crews completed the Qualifying Stage today;
- Press conference, starting order selection and ceremonial start take place tonight in Rzeszów.
The 26th edition of Rally Rzeszów – round five of the 2017 FIA European Rally Championship and round three of the Polish Rally Championship – gets underway tonight. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jarek Baran enter this event holding onto second position in overall FIA ERC standings, with narrow gap to the series leaders Bruno Magalhães and Hugo Magalhães (Portugal). The LOTOS Rally Team crew face a huge challenge of fighting in a very competitive international field. Virtually all championship frontrunners have come to Rzeszów and are joined by recent Polish champions and by WRC regular, experienced Norwegian driver Mads Østberg.
On Thursday the competitors completed practice runs followed by the Qualifying Stage. On his two shakedown runs Kajto went third- and second-fastest respectively. Afterwards he set ninth fastest time on the Qualifying Stage, losing less than three seconds to the pace setters. The stage was won by Russian driver Alexey Lukyanuk (Ford Fiesta R5) who was followed by his compatriot Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia R5) and Norwegian Mads Østberg (Ford Fiesta R5).
Fast and very narrow Tarmac roads, almost 100 crews and 26 top R5 cars – this is the 26th edition of Rally Rzeszów in a nutshell. When you add high temperatures and possible intermittent rain or even thunderstorms, the next few days might bring plenty of emotions and unpredictable scenarios. It just underlines the beauty of this sport – good preparation is essential, so that you can foresee as many different situations as it is possible.
Over the next couple of days (4-5 August 2017) the crews will compete on eleven special stages. There are five tests planned for Friday, including the longest one of the whole rally: 24-kms Pstrągowa, run twice. The day will end with an incredibly spectacular and crowd-drawing superspecial stage on the streets of Rzeszów. During the final leg on Saturday drivers and co-drivers will fight on six stages with combined length of over 113 kilometres. The rally ends before 16:00 CET and the popular official ceremony, attended by many fans, starts at 17:30 CET in The Main Square in Rzeszów.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz:
– We have just returned from the Qualifying Stage. Plenty of very fast drivers take part in this rally, the temperatures are really high. Up to now I have thought that it was hot in Cyprus but it is a real scorcher here. I am happy that we have a chance to compete in front of the Polish fans. Many quick drivers make this competition even more interesting not only for the spectators but also for us, the competitors. I will do my best to maintain good pace, to enjoy driving like I do it now and to close the gap – at the very least – to the leader.
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 results of the Qualifying Stage ahead of the 2017 Rally Rzeszów:
1. Alexey Lukyanuk / Alexey Arnautov (Russia, Ford Fiesta R5) 2:04.190
2. Nikolay Gryazin / Jaroslav Fedorov (Russia, Skoda Fabia R5) +0.261 s
3. Mads Østberg / Patrik Barth (Norway, Ford Fiesta R5) +0.643 s
4. José A. Suárez / Cándido Carrera (Spain, Peugeot 208 T16 R5) +1.091 s
5. Grzegorz Grzyb / Bogusław Browiński (Poland, Skoda Fabia R5) +1.196 s
6. José Maria López / Borja Rozada (Spain, Peugeot 208 T16 R5) +1.401 s
7. Filip Nivette / Kamil Heller (Poland, Skoda Fabia R5) +1.706 s
8. Sylvain Michel / Jérôme Degout (France, Skoda Fabia R5) +2.801 s
9. Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Jarosław Baran (Poland, Ford Fiesta R5) +2.953 s
10. Marijan Griebel / Stefan Kopczyk (Germany, Skoda Fabia R5) +3.091 s
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.
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
