Saturday’s leg of Rally Chile, round eleven of the 2023 World Rally Championship, ended around midnight European time. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak improve the pace in their first outing on these special stages, starting the second loop with sixth-fastest time in the WRC2 standings and adding top-three results on the following two tests. The ORLEN Rally Team moved up into top five in their category!
On the second Saturday’s loop the Polish duo showed very good pace, closing the gap to a top-three position. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak improved their position not only in the WRC2 standings but also among non-factory crews, fighting for the lead in the championship classification. The ORLEN Rally Team crew hold second position ahead of Sunday’s showdown!
– Saturday is already behind us, it’s been a long day with over 150 competitive kilometres – but we are feeling very well. On the second loop we „returned the favour” to our rivals for our setbacks during the first one – when we experienced some problems with our power steering. It was fixed at the service and we could attack, although I think that I managed the tyres too much. We could push a bit more, as our rubber is in very good condition – but it’s always a good lesson. I am happy to move up the order. Now it’s time for Sunday – a short, sprint day, but many things can still happen. We are smiling, the whole ORLEN Rally Team perform very well. This day comes to an end, the sun goes down and we have still some work to do with on-board videos, to refresh the Sunday’s stages ahead of the rally showdown
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, triple European Rally Champion, commented after Saturday.
There are two stages to go on Sunday, with two passes of Las Pataguas (13.20 kms at 8:07 and 11:40 local time – 13:07 and 16:40 CET) and El Poñen (13.86 kms at 9:05 and 13:15 local time – 14:05 and 18:15 CET).
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title 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.
Rally Chile 2023, unofficial WRC2 standings after SS12:
- Solberg/Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 2:43:08.9
- Greensmith/Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +25.3
- Pajari/Mälkönen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +43.9
- Rossel/Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) +1:08.4
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:18.0
- Gryazin/Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:39.7
- Lindholm/Hämäläinen (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +1:49.0
- E. Rosselot/Cañete (Citroën C3 Rally2) +4:48.4
- P. Heller/Olmos (Citroën C3 Rally2) +5:44.2
- Zaldivar/der Ohannesian (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +8:42.9
