Contested in extreme heat and on technically difficult roads, Rally Italia Sardegna brought significant success for Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak. The ORLEN Rally Team crew claimed second place in both WRC2 Challenger and WRC2 classifications.
Round six of the 2025 World Rally Championship took place in Sardegna. The Mediterranean island has been hosting the WRC competitors almost continuously for over two decades and this event has earned a reputation of one of the most beautiful and at the same time toughest rounds in the calendar. This year’s edition was no exception, due to extreme temperatures – exceeding 30 degrees centigrade – which, combined with technically difficult roads, demanding endurance and full concentration, presented an enormous challenge for competitors. They faced sixteen special stages, with total length of 320 kilometres.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak competed in Rally Sardegna for seventh time together. However, this time they entered the Italian WRC counter in a car which is still new to them. The Polish crew started with steady pace, working on setup of their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and gathering speed step by step, avoiding mistakes at the same time. They drove particularly well on Saturday, during the toughest and the longest leg. The only Polish crew in the field moved up into second position in the WRC2 Challenger standings and into top three of the overall WRC2 classification. The real rollercoaster happened on Sunday. Small adventures of Kajetan and Maciek – and their biggest rivals – meant that the fight for top three positions was wide open ahead of the final stage, with minimal gaps between crews. Ultimately the ORLEN Rally Team claimed second position in both categories, scoring a solid amount of points in the championship.
– It was a really successful weekend for us. Just a few seconds separated us from winning both WRC2 Challenger and WRC2 categories. We experienced a few problems, there were some bad decisions and errors – they did happen, generally small ones, but one of them cost us a minute. For sure it would have been a lot better without this mistake, but this is rally – and a difficult one. I am very pleased, having regained my pace in this car. I am happy, making progress. The whole ORLEN Rally Team crew also did a good job. Of course there is still so much ahead of us, we know it. However, we head to Greece with solid points on board. Big thanks to my whole family. Mum, happy birthday – I love you so much. Without my family, I wouldn’t have such power and support which I need so much. Of course, thanks to our fans – their support here was amazing
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz said after the rally.
The ORLEN Rally Team do not slow down. Kajetan and Maciek with the whole team return to Poland for a short while, before speeding up their preparations ahead of the next event – Acropolis Rally. The Greek WRC encounter takes place on 26-29 June.
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 Italia Sardegna, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification:
- Daprà/Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 3:46:39.8
- Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +5.8
- Prokop/Ernst (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10.9
- Joona/Vaaleri (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +28.5
- Jürgenson/Oja (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +33.5
- Solans/Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +45,.
- Virves/Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1:47.9
- Sarrazin/Roche (Citroën C3 Rally2) +4:28.6
- Trentin/Ometto (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +7:43.9
- Domínguez/Peñate (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +14:00.0
