The LOTOS Rally Team crew of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciek Szczepaniak prepare meticulously for the next World Rally Championship round. They are already in Sardinia and on Monday (5 October) they completed a testing session on a gravel stage. Rally Italia Sardegna starts on Thursday, 8 October.
After extremely fast Estonia and very demanding Turkey, it is time for Sardinia – where the stages are to some extent a mixture of two previous rounds. Kajetanowicz and his co-driver Maciek Szczepaniak train hard in order to find the best set-up of their car. On Monday the LOTOS Rally Team duo tested their Skoda on La Prungola test, in the north-eastern part of the Italian island.
– A couple of weeks passed since Rally Turkey but I feel as if I got out of the car yesterday. We are already in Sardinia, getting up to speed and working on car set-up. Recce is still ahead but I know what to expect here. Last year we scored a great second place here. These stages bring lots of fun, with its sprint characteristic this rally resembles Rally Estonia and the gaps between crews are usually small. We are ready, the car is perfectly prepared and the whole LOTOS Rally Team is in upbeat mood. We face a tough competition, basically all the frontrunners are here and we will also have some new rivals. This rally will be difficult, for sure different to the past editions because now we compete at different time of the year
– said Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak finished last year’s Rally Italia Sardegna in second position in their category. Now the event begins on Thursday, 8 October, with Olmedo shakedown (3.79 kms, at 12:01). The competition starts the next day, on Friday. The first loop consists of two stages, with two runs of each: SS1/3 Tempio Pausania (12.08 kms, at 7:50 and 10:40) and SS2/4 Erula – Tula (21.78 kms, at 8:44 and 11:34). After 40 minutes of service break in Alghero the crews will tackle two more tests: SS5 Sedini – Castelsardo (14.72 kms, at 16:14) and SS6 Tergu – Osilo (12.81 kms, at 16:59). The day ends with 45 minutes of service in the evening.
Saturday marks the longest leg of the rally. The day starts with another set of two stages, with two runs: SS7/9 Monte Lerno (the longest test of the rally: 22.08 kms, at 7:37 and 10:07) and SS8/10 Coiluna – Loelle (15.00 kms, at 8:38 and 11:08). These four stages will be followed by another service break and re-run of Friday’s second loop: SS11 Sedini – Castelsardo (14.72 kms, at 16:08) and SS12 Tergu – Osilo (12.81 kms, at 17:02). Saturday comes to an end with usual 45-minutes service break.
The final leg runs on Sunday, on over 40 competitive kilometres: SS13/15 Cala Flumini (14.06 kms, at 8:15 and 10:10) and SS14/16 Sassari – Argentiera (6.89 kms, at 9:08 and 12:18) – with the second run contested as the Power Stage. The rally ends around 13:00.
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.
