Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak continue their excellent streak in Croatia Rally, round three of the 2022 World Rally Championship. The LOTOS Rally Team crew won two of three stages during the second loop on Saturday, moving up to top three in the WRC2 standings. They are motivated and ready to fight for victory on Sunday!
The condition on second loop of Saturday’s leg of Croatia Rally were supposed to be similar to the previous one: with three of four stages run on mostly dry roads and one test in difficult, wet conditions. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak focused on this stage, choosing rain tyres in order to attack and close the gap to the leaders. Unfortunately, the organisers decided to cancel this stage due to safety concerns and our crew had to find motivation in tough situation. They did that in true champions’ style, adding another stage win on SS16 – finishing the day in third position in the WRC2 category and ninth place in overall standings!
– This was a good day for us. It seems that we are quite good at competing against the best drivers in the world. Three stage wins and top-three position in our category please us a lot and we enjoy our driving very much. I regret a bit that the organisers cancelled stage number fifteen. We were one of a few crews which were prepared to compete in heavy rain, on very slippery road. It’s a pity because I think we could have pushed even more in those conditions. However, I am happy, as this is a great feeling – when I am in my element while driving the rally car. We will fight right until the end, using every inch of the road
– says Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the LOTOS Rally Team driver.
The competition ends on Sunday, with two passes of two stages: Trakošćan-Vrbno (13.15 kms, at 7:08 and 10:26 CET) and Zagorska Sela-Kumrovec (14.09 kms, at 8:38 and 13:18 CET).
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by strategic partner of the LOTOS Rally Team – Grupa LOTOS, technical partner Delphi Technologies, as well as Pirelli, SJS Driving Experience and Grupa Sikora.
Croatia Rally 2022, unofficial WRC2 standings after SS16:
- Rossel/Sarreaud (France, Citroën C3 Rally2) 2:23:19.1
- Gryazin/Aleksandrov (Russia, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +35.1
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Poland, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +50.9
- Lindholm/Hämäläinen (Finland, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +1:24.7
- Ingram/Drew (Great Britain, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +2:11.6
- Camilli/de la Haye (France, Citroën C3 Rally2) +2:25.7
- Lefebvre/Malfoy (France, Citroën C3 Rally2) +2:45.3
- Cais/Těšínský (Czech Republic, Ford Fiesta Rally2) +4:44.6
- Heikkilä/Vaaleri (Finland, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +7:20.4
- Marczyk/Gospodarczyk (Poland, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +7:34.8
