Rally Portugal started with a short superspecial on the Atlantic coast. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak began the competition with second-fastest stage time in the WRC2 Challenger classification.
Following the official start ceremony, held at the footsteps of the Old Town in Coimbra, the crews travelled to Figueira da Foz, on the Atlantic coast. A short but technically demanding superspecial stage took place on streets of this city. The crews tackled this asphalt test in cars with gravel suspension and tyres, which only added to tough challenge.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak set second-fastest time in the WRC2 Challenger and fourth-fastest in the WRC2 standings on almost 3-kms long stage. The ORLEN Rally Team crew defeated over 30 rivals in their category.
– We started the rally with a tarmac stage, run with gravel suspension – so the car was very soft. We made it a bit harder with a few clicks but it still did not behave very well. However, it was the same for everybody. We are in second position in the Challenger category, in a very strong field – almost 40 cars, so the competition is quite tough. It’s a long day tomorrow. We leave our hotel at 6:30 and we’ll be back around 22:00. The distance is equal to the whole round of national championship, with very short service breaks and additional limitations regarding permitted work on the car. It will be a very challenging day, one of the toughest in my career. Every crew face the same scenario, you need to find a good compromise. I am trying to adjust the car to my liking all the time. This is my second rally with my Toyota – although I know I should believe more in myself, I am still taking a realistic approach. I am not able to overcome everything, as I am competing against rivals who perfectly know their cars. However, I am here and I am happy that we can fight with the best drivers of the world
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the ORLEN Rally Team driver, said after the first stage.
The competition in round five of the 2025 World Rally Championship continues on Friday. No less than ten special stages are scheduled for this day, with two runs of Mortágua (14.59 kms), Lousa (12.28 kms), Góis (14.30 kms) and Arganil (14.41 kms) tests, finishing the leg with single passes of Águeda/Sever (15.08 kms) and Sever/Albergaria (20.24 kms). The route consists of 146.48 competitive kilometres and longer service break is planned at the end of the day. There will be just two 20-minutes windows for limited repairs during the leg. The first stage gets underway at 8:35 CET.
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.
Rally Portugal, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification after SS1:
- Dapra/Beltrame (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 2:23.7
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1.0
- Korhonen/Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1.8
- L. Rossel/Mercoiret (Citroën C3 Rally2) +2.8
- Linnamäe/Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +3.2
- Sarrazin/Roche (Citroën C3 Rally2) +3.5
- Cachón/Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +3.9
- Trentin/Franco (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4.4
- Solans/Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +4.5
- Bulacia/Vallejo (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +4.7
