The long, rainy day of Rally de España comes to an end. Saturday leg turned out to be very successful for Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Baran. The Polish crew pleased their fans, moving up the WRC2 standings into excellent fifth position! Over the course of the second loop the LOTOS Rally Team crew fought hard with Petter Solberg – the factory Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 driver lost three out of four special stages in head to head battle. On the final test of the day Kajetanowicz recorded excellent sixth-fastest time in the overall classification (third-fastest in his category) and trails his fourth-placed rival by less than five seconds!
On the eleventh special stage Kajto recorded fourth-fastest time, closing his gap to fourth position to less than three seconds. He finished the following test with third-fastest result, beating Petter Solberg by 11.8 seconds and moving up the order. However, the Norwegian driver responded with faster time on dirty and muddy stage number thirteen, reclaiming fourth position. Today’s battle ended with a short but very technical stage on the seaside in Salou: with extremely mixed surface – from asphalt through concrete, cobblestones and sand to water or mud. Kajetanowicz excelled in these conditions, claiming sixth-fastest time in the overall standings and third-fastest in the WRC2 classification.
– We enjoy our driving very much, every kilometre brings me a lot of pleasure. Fifth position in battle with such opponents probably exceeds our expectations. The stages are very difficult and the conditions are wet – for the first time in many years. Big congratulations to Solans who is driving a very fast rally. This is his rally and he exploits it very well, but I know how much he has to give in order to achieve such stage times. I am still fulfilling my plan. We can see a lot of Polish flags on the stages, there are many fans from our country. They support us a lot and adds power in our fight. Sometimes it is difficult to stay focused but we enjoy it a lot
– said Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the LOTOS Rally Team driver.
There are four special stages planned for Sunday, with combined length of over 60 competitive kilometres. The battle starts at 7:35 CET with the first run of Riudecanyes stage (16.35 kms), then the crews tackle Santa Marina test (14.50 kms, at 8:38 CET). After the service break they will repeat the same stages, in the same order – at 10:50 and 12:18 CET respectively. The final results should be known around 13:00 CET.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by strategic partner of LOTOS Rally Team – LOTOS Group – as well as Delphi Technologies and Driving Experience. More info about Kajetan Kajetanowicz and the team available at: www.lotosrallyteam.pl and www.kajto.pl, as well as at: www.fb.com/EmocjeDoPelna, www.fb.com/KajetanKajetanowicz, www.twitter.com/Kajto_pl and www.youtube.com/Kajtopl.
Rally de España 2018, unofficial WRC-2 standings after SS14 (top 10):
1. Rovanperä / Halttunen (Finlandia, Skoda Fabia R5) 2:41:51.1 s
2. Kopecký / Dresler (Czechy, Skoda Fabia R5) +22.0 s
3. Solans / Martí (Hiszpania, Ford Fiesta R5) +22.3 s
4. Solberg P. / Gulbæk (Norwegia, VW Polo GTI R5) +1:26.6 s
5. Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak (Polska, Ford Fiesta R5) +1:31.5 s
6. Solberg H. / Minor-Petrasko (Norwegia, Skoda Fabia R5) +3:33.0 s
7. Loubet / Landais (Francja, Hyundai i20 R5) +4:29.3 s
8. Andolfi / Scattolin (Włochy, Skoda Fabia R5) +11:41.5 s
9. Veiby / Skjærmoen (Norwegia, Citroen C3 R5) +12:16.1 s
10. Tempestini / Itu (Rumunia, Citroen C3 R5) +16:05.8 s
