The ORLEN Rally Team competitors are just one step away from securing the championship title in the WRC2 Challenger category. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak moved up to second position after Saturday’s leg. They also hold third place in the WRC2 standings and tenth in the overall classification. The Polish duo execute their plan and get closer to achieve their goal, for which they have been working for the whole season.
The conditions during Saturday’s leg of Rally Japan improved a bit but the weather continued to play tricks, surprising the competitors on fourteenth special stage (SS Lake Mikawako 2). Unexpectedly, it started to snow, making it really difficult to reach the finish line. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak tried to avoid mistakes, as their current position – second place in the WRC2 Challenger standings – guarantees them the championship title. However, there are still six special stages to go: over 80 competitive kilometres which might change the outcome of the rally.
– It has been an extremely mixed day. The Saturday might have been short but a lot of things happened. Those stages in the woods were difficult, with slippery tarmac, moss and mud. It was quite wet, with snow on one of the tests. Fortunately the temperatures remained above zero, so this snow disappeared right away, but it caused some distraction anyway. We also had some street stages and the third run of the stadium superspecial, with plenty of spectators. You can see that the Japanese fans just love competition, they love our sport. There are lots of people even on the road sections, basically everybody with a phone, taking pictures and videos – they really enjoy this rally and it means a lot for us. Right now we are in third position in the WRC2 standings and second in the WRC2 Challenger category. I drove with full concentration, without mistakes – there is no room for errors in my plan. I am smiling, we are happy and looking forward to Sunday
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver, commented after Saturday.
The final leg takes place on six special stages. The first loop consists of three stages: SS17 Asahi Kougen (7.52 kms, starts at 23:05 CET), SS18 Ena City 1 (22.92 kms, at 00:03 CET) i SS19 Nenoue Kougen 1 (11.60 kms, at 00:56 CET). After tyre fitting zone the crews will tackle SS20 Ena City 2 (22.29 kms, at 03:04 CET) and SS21 Nenoue Kougen 2 (11.60 kms, at 03:57 CET). The competition ends with Power Stage, where the crews fight for bonus points: SS22 Asahi Kougen (7.52 kms, at 06:15 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.
