If rally fans were to choose the most iconic, legendary and unique events, Safari Rally would certainly top the list in many cases. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak line up for competition in this extraordinary rally for the third time in a row. The ORLEN Rally Team duo face almost 370 competitive kilometres on treacherous roads where everything can happen.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak are already in Kenya, preparing themselves for their first World Rally Championship outing this year. The Polish duo remain faithful to their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, run by Spanish tuner RaceSeven – but the car appears now in aggressive, brown and black livery. Kajto and Maciej have completed a successful testing session, working on car set-up for specific stages of Safari Rally.
– Our campaign begins with Safari Rally, the most difficult World Rally Championship round. We have competed here twice, having possibilities to win it twice. I say “possibilities” because this is one of the rallies in which you have to calculate. Good strategy is a must and I hope that this year I will drive with cool head again, without taking too much risk – although risk is already included! We have almost 400 kilometres of special stages, in difficult conditions. The sky is sometimes covered with thick clouds, sometimes the sun shines brightly and temperatures exceed thirty degrees in the shade. We moved from chilly Poland to hot country, it is also quite humid so it does not help at all. I will try to approach this challenge wisely, not fighting at all costs in the WRC2 standings – as the WRC2 Challenger is our goal. I am not a factory-supported driver, so this category is the most important for me and our road is really long – says Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
There are 29 crews on the official entry list, with 14 in Rally2 cars. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak will compete, among others, against Solberg and Edmondson, Ciamin and Roche or Greensmith and Andersson.
The rally begins on Thursday, 28 March, with SS Kasarani (4.84 kms, starts at 12:05 CET) – following the official shakedown, Loldia (5.kms, at 8:01 CET). On Friday the crews will complete two loops of three stages, including Kedong – the longest test of the whole event (31.5 kms). Another three stages are planned for Saturday and Sunday, each of them also run twice. The competition comes to an end on Sunday, with Hell’s Gate Power Stage.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi, Pirelli, ORLEN OIL, ATC CARGO S.A. and SJS S.A.
