Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak have finished the iconic Safari Rally. Despite car failure on Saturday’s leg, the Polish duo did not give up and reached the finish line, scoring points for fourth position in the WRC2 Challenger standings!
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak started Safari Rally in great style, following a switch to new car, a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and new Polish team Rallylab Technology. This year’s edition of African classic was regarded as the toughest in recent years by many competitors and pundits – due to changeable weather and typically punishing special stages. However, the Polish crew finished the opening day in the lead of the WRC2 Challenger category and overall WRC2 standings!
The ORLEN Rally Team duo led the pack after Friday’s leg as well. Unfortunately, bad luck struck early on Saturday, when they were forced to stop on special stage number eleven, having to fix a damaged suspension. Considerable time loss pushed them back to sixth position. After repairs in the service zone, they started to make up lost ground and moved into top five by the end of the day.
Much better weather conditions came on Sunday and five special stages were contested in bright sunshine. Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak claimed another two stage wins in the WRC2 Challenger standings, gaining another position. They leave Kenya with points for fourth place in their category.
– Safari Rally is never easy. This time it was exceptionally difficult but we really enjoyed driving – if you could describe arguably the toughest rally in the world this way. I am happy because I like our new car. I drove it for the first time here, so I hadn’t been sure what to expect. However, I found my way. At the beginning it was very good, we were leading both WRC2 Challenger and WRC2 standings. Later some technical problem appeared. Cars get punished here quite hard but we did not give up – we never do it. We climbed in the standings, claiming fourth position in the Challenger category. The whole ORLEN Rally Team performed very well. We know there is plenty of work ahead of us. We have to push and that’s the plan. I am happy that we scored points, it would be sad to leave these rally without them, after many months of preparations. We need to be pleased with what we get
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver, said after the rally.
Starts of Kajetan Kajetanowicz are supported by the title partner of the ORLEN Rally Team – ORLEN S.A., as well as technical partner Delphi and ORLEN OIL.
Safari Rally Kenya, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification:
- Solans/Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) 4:37:30.4
- Zaldivar/Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +18:12.2
- Chwist/Heller (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +27:43.1
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +50:16.6
- Tundo/Jessop (Ford Fiesta R5) +53:31.6
- Wahome/Okundi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:12:04.4
- Díaz-Aboitiz/Ibáñez (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:59:00.1
- Singh/Vohra (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +2:16:29.4
