Kajetan Kajetanowicz is preparing for his World Rally Championship campaign. Today the ORLEN Rally Team driver tested his new car – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz revealed his 2025 plans last week. Together with Maciej Szczepaniak, he will continue his WRC programme, competing in the most important rally series in the world. The ORLEN Rally Team duo have claimed six consecutive top-three finishes in their category – but they start another campaign with hunger for more success.
New car of Kajetanowicz definitely catches attention. The 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion decided to switch the brand and after couple of years of driving various evolutions of Škoda Fabia, he climbs aboard Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – the latest WRC2 machinery. A new car always gives the driver a chance to improve – and for Kajetanowicz this has been the most important thing for years – but at the same time it presents a considerable challenge. The GR Yaris Rally2 car uses different technical solutions than its Czech counterpart, so it is essential to get to know it well before extracting great potential of the new tool
Kajetanowicz prepares for his 2025 campaign with great commitment. Earlier this month he went to Finland and together with his co-driver and Rallylab Technology team, taking care of his WRC programme, he conducted a test session on snowy roads close to Jyväskylä. This city is famous in rally world as start and finish point of Rally Finland, an iconic WRC round. One of motorsport divisions of Toyota is also based in Jyväskylä and GR Yaris Rally2 cars are built there.
Winter tests in Finland helped to adapt quickly to the new car. Afterwards, in order to switch their focus to their first event this year, Safari Rally Kenya, Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak crossed the western border of Poland. Nearby Boxberg – a town where Lausitz Rally is based – the ORLEN Rally Team duo tested their Toyota on gravel. The road and characteristics of test stages – mostly sandy, with low grip levels – were chosen in order to emulate conditions which await Kajto and Maciek in Kenya.
Testing session went according to plan and the weather helped to simulate very tough conditions which every year challenge the competitors who want to tackle the legend of Safari. Kajetanowicz was pleased after completing the job, looking ahead with optimism to his first start of the new season.
– I had a chance to test our new rally weapon, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, in difficult conditions. It performs very well, forgives a lot while driving in the ruts – although I tried to be gentle. Traction is good and, above all, it’s very nice to drive. However, with three cylinders it is not easy to feel the right moment to change gears. I need to rely on rev lights – when they turn red, I change the gear. Basically every driver who switches to this car has to cope with that, so it’s nothing unusual. You need to get the feeling, get used to it. I am happy that we will have a chance to check this car in competition during Safari Rally Kenya
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver, commented after testing session.
Now the ORLEN Rally Team face less than three weeks of final preparations for their first round this year. Safari Rally Kenya – which Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak won three times – takes place on 20-23 March. The organisers have prepared 21 special stages with total length of almost 385 kilometres.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as by technical partner Delphi and ORLEN Oil.ularny ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., a także partner techniczny Delphi oraz ORLEN OIL.
