Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak have completed the incredibly challenging Rally del Paraguay. Although an unfortunate incident during Friday’s leg robbed them of any chance of scoring a top position, the extraordinary atmosphere and warm reception ensured that the new round in the 2025 World Rally Championship will be remembered for many years to come.
Top drivers of the world arrived in Paraguay for the first time. The South American country, famous for yerba mate, Guarani culture, and capybaras – friendly rodents – became the 38th host country of a World Rally Championship round in the history of the world’s most prestigious rally series. The competition took place on nineteen very fast special stages with unique brick-red surface, high jumps and compressions, dangerous for both crews and cars. All of this was complemented by incredible atmosphere, created by tens of thousands of rally-loving fans.
This was the fifth outing this year for Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak, their first after a two-month break following their victory in the WRC2 Challenger category during Rally Acropolis Greece. The ORLEN Rally Team crew showed excellent pace on the red soil of Paraguay, securing top-three and top-five stage times. However, their fight for a podium finish was halted by unfortunate incident on stage number six. stage times and rarely posting results outside the top five in their category. A huge rock, lying in the middle of the road in a corner, was impossible to avoid at high speed. Following a contact with it, the car went off the road. Additional impact against a culvert caused damage which made it impossible to continue and resulted in 30 minutes’ time loss. The team did not give up, repaired the car, and the crew returned to the track, completing almost 200 kilometres in challenging conditions. Although making up the lost time was not possible, the gap between the Polish crew and the eventual WRC2 Challenger winners had shrunk by almost 30 seconds and in total turned out to be smaller than aforementioned 30 minutes. Kajetan and Maciek did not add to their points tally but the rally will certainly be remembered for many years. All thanks to the incredible reception from the local fans. Equipped with a small capybara mascot, the Polish driver won the hearts of the Paraguayans, generating widespread interest and experiencing acts of kindness at every turn.
A wild weekend in Paraguay has come to an end. We finished a very demanding rally, held in variable conditions. For the first time I drove such quick stages in our Toyota and I tackled them with increasing vigour. Today and yesterday we had very good pace on some stages, although the weather wasn’t always right. At times some crews were still driving in the dry, while we were already driving in the rain. However, we are happy, because if it weren’t for an unlucky rock lying in the middle of the stage that knocked us off the road, it would have been really good in terms of points and our position in both WRC2 Challenger and WRC2 standings. The atmosphere we found here was incredible throughout the rally. It made me feel like I was on fire. It was often difficult to even stay focused because there were so many fans along the stages. It was the same on the road sections. When we wanted to work on our car, fans would park nearby and greet us. It was hard to refuse them even a short conversation. Rallying is a very popular sport in Paraguay, and the local capybara, or “carpincho” is beloved, so it made us popular. We didn’t expect to be so loved here. I even received a few invitations to see a real capybara. I hope I can do it before I set off to Chile, because there is another challenge waiting for us – and we are already starting our preparations
– Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 2023 WRC2 Challenger champion, said after Rally del Paraguay.
The ORLEN Rally Team do not slow down and continue their intense late-summer campaign. In less than two weeks Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak will cross the starting ramp of the next round of the World Rally Championship – Rally Chile (11-14 September).
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 del Paraguay, unofficial WRC2 Challenger classification:
- Griazin/Aleksandrow (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 3:08:54,8
- F. Zaldivar/Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +28,8
- Virves/Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +37,8
- Bestard/Rozada (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4:28,8
- Weiler/Sánchez (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +9:05,2
- Pappalardo/Carrera (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +9:16,5
- M. Zaldivar/García (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11:34,1
- Galanti/Toyotoshi (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +22:37,0
- García/Vargas (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +25:13,7
- Saba/Díaz (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +25:48,4
… - Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +29:39,2
