Kajetan Kajetanowicz has finished his Safari Rally preparations. Together with Maciek Szczepaniak, he completed pre-event test, checking his car on rough roads in Kenya. The iconic World Rally Championship round gets underway on Thursday.
SStart of 2025 campaign for Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak is just around the corner. The ORLEN Rally Team duo arrived in Africa after long journey and started their work with the whole team, preparing for Safari Rally during last few days ahead of the event. The African WRC counter, in which Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak claimed three consecutive wins in their category, is definitely one of the most iconic rounds of the championship calendar.
Following test days in Europe, on snow and gravel, Kajetanowicz checked his new car – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – in demanding conditions in Kenya. The stage – chosen by the organisers, formerly run as official shakedown – was full of potholes and bumps, so with ever-present dust and heat it presented a challenge similar to what the crews should expect in a few days’ time.
– Starting the World Rally Championship season with so tough rally and in a new car for sure doesn’t make our task easy. However, we are optimistic and our test went really well. The stage was representative, similar to real rally conditions. Maybe there were not a lot of stones but it was full of fesh-fesh and bumps. Of course those sections do not reflect everything what awaits us but for sure we are better prepared.
– Safari is a demanding rally – above all for machines but also for crews. It won’t be easy from fitness point of view. I put a lot of effort, maybe too much, in driving the car, so I feel a bit more tired at the end of the day. We compete at over 2000 metres above sea level. One of stages – Loldia – lies at 2500 metres, with corner after corner. There is less oxygen, you are struggling to catch a breath. It will be hot, so we are facing a really tough challenge.
– I am pleased to start this season with Polish tuner, Rallylab Technology. We can say that we are a completely Polish team now and this brings additional motivation – although, to be honest, I’ve never lacked motivation. In a few days I will return to doing what I love to do
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz said ahead of the rally.
Monday and Tuesday are dedicated to preparing pace notes during recce. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak will spend whole days in a road car, getting to know this year’s challenge. Unusually, official shakedown takes place on Wednesday and the rally starts on Thursday.
39 crews entered the African classic – one-third of them will compete with Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak for points in the WRC2 Challenger category. The organisers have planned 21 special stages, with total length of over 380 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.larny ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., a także partner techniczny Delphi oraz ORLEN OIL.
