Rally México, round three of the 2023 World Rally Championship, is well underway. After five special stages, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak hold fifth position in the WRC2 category, trailing the leaders by just under 20 seconds. Right from the beginning, the Mexican round proves to be one of the most difficult stops in the whole WRC journey.
The day started with the famous El Chocolate test, where the championship leaders, Tänak and Järveoja, were hampered by technical issues. Loubet and Gilsoul lost a wheel on this stage, while Serderidis and Miclotte crashed out of the rally, blocking the road. The stage was red-flagged and cancelled for the WRC2 crews.
Fortunately, the following two stages – SS4 Ortega and SS5 Las Minas – ran without major problems. The ORLEN Rally Team crew set fifth-fastest times on both tests, holding fifth position ahed of the second loop – trailing the leaders, Lindholm and Hämäläinen, by 19 seconds. Top three is completed by Greensmith/Andersson (+3.0 seconds) and Fourmaux/Coria (+4.9 seconds).
– We have completed the opening loop of Rally México. I think that the feeling is good but still not perfect, so I want to improve. I am trying to drive without too much risk but there are plenty of surprises, so I leave a bigger safety margin. If I would like to pick up the pace, these proportions might change. I am happy that we manage to avoid problems and we stay on the road. We lose 19 seconds to the leaders, this is not a big gap – but in order to compete for the win, we would need to go faster. I am still not very confident in fast sections. This is my first rally since Japan last year, so I need some time to get a good flow. However, everything works perfectly, so I don’t see any reason why it should not happen
– says Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver.
After the service break, the crews will tackle the same set of stages: El Chocolate (29.07 kms), Ortega (15.71 kms) and Las Minas (13.79 kms). The days ends with two short test: Las Dunas Superspecial (3.70 kms) and Distrito León Mx (1.30 kms).
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by titular partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – PKN ORLEN, as well as technical partner Delphi Technologies, Pirelli, ATC CARGO S.A., PLATINUM ORLEN OIL brand, QUAZAR LOTOS OIL brand and SJS S.A.
