Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak started the competition in Acropolis Rally Greece. The Polish crew set third-fastest time in the WRC2 Challenger standings on a spectacular superspecial stage, contested in the centre of Athens.
The legendary „Rally of Gods” – this is one of official names of round seven of the 2025 World Rally Championship – got underway late afternoon in the centre of Athens. The competitors, including the ORLEN Rally Team crew, crossed the start ramp nearby the historic Panathenaic Stadium and completed the 1.5-kms city stage at the National Gardens.
Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak started their fourth event of this year’s campaign wisely and carefully. They avoided major mistakes on tricky and slippery surface of mixed tarmac and concrete, covered with dust, setting third-fastest time in the WRC2 Challenger standings. They also claimed a top five result among all Rally2 cars.
We have completed a short stage in the centre of Athens. It was a great show for the fans. I drove a bit carefully but those were just the first kilometres of over 340 ahead of us. Very demanding, long days await us – we will spend them inside the car, hot as inside a sauna. Air temperature exceed 40 degrees. It’s hard to maintain concentration in these conditions and it will be crucial to stay alert on roads full of stones and big rocks. We have to be careful, manage our tyres well and try to enjoy driving. This is our plan
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz commented after the first stage.
Afterwards all competitors of Acropolis Rally moved from Athens to Loutraki, a town overlooking the Corinth Canal. Tomorrow this will be the starting point of their long journey do Lamia – with six special stages along the route. The longest one in the whole rally – Aghii Theodori (26.76 kms) – will be tackled twice, with single runs of Loutraki (12.90 kms), Thiva (19.58 kms), Stiri (24.18 kms) and Elatia (11.58 kms). Total distance of competitive route reaches almost 122 kilometres.
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.
Acropolis Rally Greece, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification after SS1:
1. Virves/Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1:21.8
2. Cachón/Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +0.3
3. Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +0.5
4. Linnamäe/Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +0.6
5. Trentin/Ometto (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1.1
6. Zaldivar/Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1.3
7. Solans/Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1.4
– Rossel/Mercoiret (Citroën C3 Rally2) +1.4
9. Ruiloba/Vela (Citroën C3 Rally2) +1.9
10. Kogure/Luhtinen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +2
