Excellent morning for Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak in Safari Rally Kenya: the Polish crew in their Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo won all special stages in WRC2, moved up to ninth position in the overall classification and took the lead among the Rally2 cars!
Today the crews tackle the longest leg of the rally, with over 150 kilometres of competition. It took almost 20 minutes to complete the first stage, almost 30-kms Soysambu 1 test – and the Polish duo defeated the leaders by 3.9 seconds. They gained further 7.6 seconds on the following stage and another 22.1 seconds on the longest test of the rally, Sleeping Warrior (31.01 kms). These results allowed them to regain the top spot in the WRC2 standings. The ORLEN Rally Team duo leads Munster/Louka by 7.2 seconds.
– We have completed the opening Saturday’s loop of Safari Rally, taking back the lead in WRC2. It was not an easy task, with difficult conditions on the road. I expect even tougher challenge on the second run of these stages. I need to stay calm and focused – please, keep your fingers crossed!
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion, comments after Saturday’s first loop.
In the afternoon the competitors return to the same stages. After overnight rain the crews battle not only against time but also with deep ruts and muddy conditions.
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.
Safari Rally Kenya 2023, unofficial WRC2 standings after SS10:
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 2:12:46.1
- Munster/Louka (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +7.2 s
- Prokop/Jůrka (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +7:07.5 s
- Tundo/Jessop (Škoda Fabia R5) +8:42.8 s
- Kremer/Gottschalk (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +12:10.1 s
- Virani/Bhatti (Škoda Fabia R5) +22:56.4 s
- Chwist/Heller (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +28:34.0 s
- Patel/Khan (Ford Fiesta R5) +32:26.2 s
- Singh/Khan (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +50:48.3 s
- Vassilakis/Krawszik (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +51:41.8 s
