Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak begin the critical part of their 2024 World Rally Championship campaign in Acropolis Rally Greece. The Polish driver is a multiple winner of the Rally of Gods but feels huge respect for this event, despite good knowledge of its characteristics. The WRC2 Challenger champion have spent previous couple of weeks on extensive preparation ahead of his fourth start this season.
The ORLEN Rally Team crew begins the second part of their rally season in Greece – with iconic Acropolis Rally of Gods. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak have contested just three rounds of the 2024 season, starting with gruelling Safari Rally. They wrapped up their third consecutive triumph on African gravel roads, following their Kenyan victory with fourth position in bumper WRC field in Sardegna – missing out another podium finish by less than four seconds. Afterwards the Polish duo contested their home round in Masuria, where Kajetanowicz scored three wins and took his fourth consecutive Polish championship title in 2013. Kajto pleased the fans with fantastic pace during ORLEN 80th Rally Poland, challenging the fastest drivers in the world. His quest for victory came to a premature end but the spectacular performance amazed thousands of his supporters. Now it is time for another European WRC round – the Rally of Gods in Greece.
Acropolis Rally of Greece, round ten of the 2024 World Rally Championship, has been a part of the WRC calendar since the beginning of the series, in 1973 – but with some breaks along the way. Kajetanowicz knows this round very well, having competed here six times, with three victories to his name. He scored his last win in 2021, when this event returned to the WRC roster. His another two victories came in the European Rally Championship rounds – including 2015 edition, when the ORLEN Rally Team driver claimed the first of three ERC titles. Last year Kajetanowicz also faced the challenge of the Rally of Gods, with technical issues holding him back from the fight for the lead. However, after heroic battle until the end, the WRC2 Challenger champions claimed runner-up spot in his category.
– We are entering an intensive second part of the rally season. Three hot rounds are already behind us – including the one in Poland, undoubtedly the hottest rally for us, mainly thanks to impressive atmosphere created by the Polish fans. Their support gave me even more energy to fight in the following World Rally Championship round, starting with the one just around the corner – very demanding Acropolis Rally Greece. We face another hot challenge but it might rain a bit and this could mean muddy and slippery conditions. You have to be ready for different scenarios in Greece. I know these gravel roads very well but I always feel great respect for Greek stages. Of course my three wins make me smile when I think about those good performances but at the same time I set big demands for myself and the whole ORLEN Rally Team. The final preparations are still ahead but we are already looking forward to the rally – I am happy that we are back to our intense rally schedule. I am hungry for another challenge
– confirms Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the WRC2 Challenger champion.
This year’s edition of iconic Acropolis Rally consists of 306.53 kms of gravel roads, divided into 15 special stages. The competition begins on Thursday, 5 September, in Lamia – a city named after the mythological monster. Let’s see if the “Rally Lamia” would be kind for crews competing in 68th running of the Rally of Gods which ends on Sunday, 8 September.
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.
