Three days of competition, 223 competitive kilometres divided into twelve special stages, dry and rocky roads, hot conditions. This is the challenge for Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak in 13th edition of Rally Turkey, starting on 18 September. The LOTOS Rally Team crew are the reigning winners, scoring a convincing victory in their category last year!
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak will compete in Turkey from 18 to 20 September, on twelve special stages with total length of 223 kilometres. The roads on the Turkish Riviera are twisty and rocky, with huge stress placed on tyres. Hot conditions mean that the temperatures inside rally cars exceed 60 degrees and this is an additional challenge. Therefore it is important to maintain good pace but at the same time you have to be well-prepared from fitness point of view and stay focused throughout the rally. The event is based in Marmaris area – one of the biggest holiday resorts in Turkey. Despite breathtaking landscape, the Polish crew face a really difficult challenge.
– From extremely fast Rally Estonia we move to extremely demanding Turkey – difficult both for cars and crews. Our challenge is compounded by high temperatures and the cars suffer on many potholes, bumps and plenty of sharp stone. These conditions mean that this rally is also demanding for tyres. We have competed in this event, we know how to win it – last year we did just that. The average speed on the stages is quite slow – however, you can gain not only experience but also some humility. This rally is a biggest lottery and it is the least predictable event of the whole championship season
– says Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the LOTOS Rally team driver.
Triple European Rally Champion and his co-driver begin the competition in Turkey on Friday, 18 September, with a short shakedown (4.7 kms, at 8:01 CET). In the afternoon the Polish crew will tackle the opening test İçmeler (13.9 kms) which starts at 16:08 CET. The day ends with stage number two, Gökçe (11.32 kms) – at 18:21 CET.
Next comes the longest day of the rally – both in terms of time spent on the road and in terms of combined length of the stages. Two loops of three stages – each loop with total length of 107.38 competitive kilometres – are separated with a service break. The longest stage on Saturday – Yeşilbelde 1 (31.79 kms) – begins at 7:50 CET and it will be followed by Datça 1 (8.75 kms) and Kızlan 1 (13,15 kms). The second loop starts at 13:50 CET and it consists of Yeşilbelde 2 (31.79 kms), Datça 2 (8.75 kms) and Kızlan 2 (13.15 kms) stages.
On Sunday 20 September the crews face two more special stages, each of them will be contested twice – with total length at 90.4 competitive kilometres. The longest test of the rally – Çetibeli 1 (38,15 km) – starts at 6:50 CET and afterwards the competitors tackle much shorter Marmaris 1 (7.05 kms) stage. Following a service break, the second loop begins at 10:10 with Çetibeli 2 (38.15 kms) and the event comes to an end with the Power Stage Marmaris 2 (7.05 kms).
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak have eleven competitors in the WRC-3 category. The rally ends on Sunday, around 12:30 CET.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by strategic partner of the LOTOS Rally Team – Grupa LOTOS – as well as Delphi Technologies, Driving Experience and Pirelli.
